Airmen treat Iraqi children injured in mortar attack

  • Published
  • By Maj. Vanessa Hillman
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Air Force Theater Hospital Airmen here helped save the lives of seven Iraqi children who were playing soccer when they were wounded in an attack by insurgents Feb. 19 in Al Jumia, Iraq.

The seven wounded children were transported to the base and were treated for various injuries. 

Two were treated for minor injuries and released; five required additional surgery. The children were wounded when two 82-millimeter mortar rounds struck a soccer field in the village of Al Jumia. One 12-year-old child died in the attack.

Lt. Col. (Dr.) Todd Rasmussen, a 332nd Air Expeditionary Medical Group trauma and vascular surgeon, said two of the children had suffered very serious injuries.
 
"One child had a chest wound and we needed to implant a chest tube to drain the fluid and reinflate the lung," he said. "The most seriously wounded was a 5-year-old boy with a penetrating wound below the right knee that cut off the blood flow to the lower leg and foot." 

The limb would have only been able to survive four hours without blood flow before it would have needed to be amputated, said Colonel Rasmussen who is deployed from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

"We (the surgeons) spent four hours on him reconstructing the blood flow to save the leg," he said. 

The challenge for Colonel Rasmussen was working on the small blood vessels of a 5-year-old. 

"This type of vascular repair was extremely tough due to his age," he said. "We don't see (patients this age) at home station."

The prognosis for the boy's leg is very good, he said.

"He lost a significant amount of blood, but we feel at this point the limb salvage was a success," Colonel Rasmussen said. "The leg looks remarkably well this morning and he's off the ventilator. He's really a tough kid. He'll require many more operations and we'll give him the best we have to give his leg every opportunity to be fully functional."

Colonel Rasmussen said he and the hospital staff were taken aback by the reaction of the children as they were brought bleeding into the emergency room. 

"What struck us was the children were silent as they were brought in," he said. "In the U.S., the children would have been crying. The Iraqi children were very accepting of the situation. We (at the Air Force Theater Hospital) unfortunately have a growing experience with pediatric trauma. We enjoy offering care to those who need it, but it is sad and depressing that we're working on innocent children."

The children were playing in the village of Al Jumia, north of Balad AB. A total of four rounds were launched toward the base. While all fell short of the intended target, two of the rounds struck the field where the children were playing soccer.

According to U.S. military sources, the attack was most likely carried out by al-Qaida in Iraq forces.

"This was yet another desperate attack by forces that have no regard for the Iraqi people or their future," said Col. Steven Shepro, the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing vice commander. "We relentlessly continue to pursue this enemy jointly with speed and precision while healing the wounds they leave in their wake."

After their wounds were patched up and a night spent in the intensive care unit, three of the children were met by a family member in the morning who would take them home.

Through an interpreter, the father of one of the injured children and an uncle of two of the others, expressed rage about the attack.

"This is a criminal act and nothing else," he said. "God would not accept this kind of work."

He lost one of his sons in October during a suicide attack at a nearby checkpoint.

This man is not alone in his loss. The father of the child who was killed in the Feb. 19 mortar attack lost another son Feb. 10 when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device exploded near the village of Yathrib.

As he helped prepare the released children to leave the hospital, he left behind words of praise for the care and attention provided by the medical staff.

"I am so pleased of the reception and the care given to the kids," he said. "Thank you very, very much!"

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