BMT (RIP)
05-05-2006, 14:30
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=8965
BMT
RELEASE NUMBER: 060509-02
DATE POSTED: MAY 9, 2006
Hillah SWAT, Special Forces aid young Iraqi boy
From CJSOTF-AP Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq (USASOC News Service, May 9, 2006) – Members of Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics team and a U.S. Special Forces Medic saved the life of a four-year-old Sunni boy during an operation south of Baghdad on April 29.
The Hillah SWAT was operating in the Yusafiyah area south of Baghdad as part of a larger operation meant to capture suspect terrorists in the city of Hillah. During a sweep through one of the houses, U.S. Army Special Forces advisers accompanying Hillah SWAT team members noticed a boy who was lethargic and looked ill.
Upon seeing the young boy, the senior U.S. adviser immediately sought out the Special Forces medic who was part of his advisory team during the operation. After introducing himself to the family, the medic examined the boy.
“[The parents told me] the boy had been reaching for a pot of boiling water that was on top of a mud and brick stove when it spilled over onto him,” the medic explained. “The water hit is face and chest, but it did the most damage to his left leg.”
After the accident, the boy’s parents took him to a clinic near their house where a worker at the clinic treated the injured boy and sent him home. The clinic worker instructed the parents to change the boy’s bandages every three days and said the boy should heal just fine, according to the medic.
“The bandages were stuck to his leg, and we had to use some of the little water we had left to soften the bandages so they could be removed,” said the medic. “The boy screamed in pain, but let out no tears. It was difficult for me because the normal tools I carry in my aid bag weren’t meant for the type of treatment he needed, so I did the best I could with what I had.”
With the bandages removed, it became apparent the boy was very ill.
According to the medic, the lymph nodes in his groin, armpits and throat were all severely swollen, he showed signs of pneumonia, and his leg was severely infected.
“The boy was septic, and that is extremely dangerous for a child that age,” the medic said. “I explained that the boy needed to be taken to the hospital immediately, but that is was unsafe for them to leave and this made the mother and father really upset.”
Hillah SWAT members were on the scene to help keep the mother and father calm. One of them even offered the names of several doctors in Hillah who would be willing to help, as he had a son about the same age, the medic said.
“In the end, I wrote a note for the mother to show to soldiers at the check points she would encounter getting out of the neighborhood and a couple of SWAT members helped to escort them out, so they could take the boy to the hospital,” said the medic.
In the note, the medic also wrote down three different medications that he thought would help the boy.
Recently, the medic had an interpreter call the family to find out how the boy was doing. The father answered the phone and, according to the interpreter, was excited and happy that the American “doctor” cared enough to call and check on his son.
The boy’s father said an Iraqi doctor at the Hillah hospital gave the boy the medications the medic suggested, and now the boy is doing much better and is much happier.
-usasoc-
BMT
RELEASE NUMBER: 060509-02
DATE POSTED: MAY 9, 2006
Hillah SWAT, Special Forces aid young Iraqi boy
From CJSOTF-AP Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq (USASOC News Service, May 9, 2006) – Members of Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics team and a U.S. Special Forces Medic saved the life of a four-year-old Sunni boy during an operation south of Baghdad on April 29.
The Hillah SWAT was operating in the Yusafiyah area south of Baghdad as part of a larger operation meant to capture suspect terrorists in the city of Hillah. During a sweep through one of the houses, U.S. Army Special Forces advisers accompanying Hillah SWAT team members noticed a boy who was lethargic and looked ill.
Upon seeing the young boy, the senior U.S. adviser immediately sought out the Special Forces medic who was part of his advisory team during the operation. After introducing himself to the family, the medic examined the boy.
“[The parents told me] the boy had been reaching for a pot of boiling water that was on top of a mud and brick stove when it spilled over onto him,” the medic explained. “The water hit is face and chest, but it did the most damage to his left leg.”
After the accident, the boy’s parents took him to a clinic near their house where a worker at the clinic treated the injured boy and sent him home. The clinic worker instructed the parents to change the boy’s bandages every three days and said the boy should heal just fine, according to the medic.
“The bandages were stuck to his leg, and we had to use some of the little water we had left to soften the bandages so they could be removed,” said the medic. “The boy screamed in pain, but let out no tears. It was difficult for me because the normal tools I carry in my aid bag weren’t meant for the type of treatment he needed, so I did the best I could with what I had.”
With the bandages removed, it became apparent the boy was very ill.
According to the medic, the lymph nodes in his groin, armpits and throat were all severely swollen, he showed signs of pneumonia, and his leg was severely infected.
“The boy was septic, and that is extremely dangerous for a child that age,” the medic said. “I explained that the boy needed to be taken to the hospital immediately, but that is was unsafe for them to leave and this made the mother and father really upset.”
Hillah SWAT members were on the scene to help keep the mother and father calm. One of them even offered the names of several doctors in Hillah who would be willing to help, as he had a son about the same age, the medic said.
“In the end, I wrote a note for the mother to show to soldiers at the check points she would encounter getting out of the neighborhood and a couple of SWAT members helped to escort them out, so they could take the boy to the hospital,” said the medic.
In the note, the medic also wrote down three different medications that he thought would help the boy.
Recently, the medic had an interpreter call the family to find out how the boy was doing. The father answered the phone and, according to the interpreter, was excited and happy that the American “doctor” cared enough to call and check on his son.
The boy’s father said an Iraqi doctor at the Hillah hospital gave the boy the medications the medic suggested, and now the boy is doing much better and is much happier.
-usasoc-