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Hoosiers on the Front Lines, Pt 2

In Balad
In Balad
Lt. Col. John Groves, R.N. Head Nurse from Portage
Lt. Col. John Groves, R.N. Head Nurse from Portage
Soldiers arriving at Landstuhl in Germany
Soldiers arriving at Landstuhl in Germany
Soldiers arriving at Landstuhl in Germany
Soldiers arriving at Landstuhl in Germany

By Karen Hensel
News 8 @ 11

This is a story that will affect every veteran. One core mission of our trip was to trace the steps of a wounded soldier from the battlefield to the combat hospital and home. What we saw points to the call for new ways to track the medical histories of America's new heroes.

When a soldier or Marine is injured on the battlefield, helicopters in Balad are their lifeline. Two Hoosiers play a vital role at the emergency room in Baghdad - the chief surgeon and head nurse are both from Indiana

"After being here 10 months, they've seen some of the most devastating trauma any nurse in their career would ever see," said Lt. Col. John Groves, R.N. Head Nurse from Portage.

"All too often limbs are lost, however concerning the soldiers' lives could typically be saved," added Kirby Gross, M.D. Chief Surgeon from Elkhart.

The hospital fills up quickly, so soldiers are moved within the system quickly.

"A soldier may be wounded at midnight - traumatic amputation - gets operated on 3-4 hours, gets stablized enough so he can fly from here at 6:00 to Balad where he stays maybe a couple of hours and then he's on his way to Landstuhl," said Col. Dennis Doyle, Baghdad Hospital Commander.

Three soldiers arriving at Landstuhl in Germany were on the battlefield just 48 hours ago.

Patients are unloaded at the main entrance to the emergency room, their first stop with wounds from the battlefield. One wounded soldier told 24-Hour News 8 that it is comforting to be welcomed by the teams of soldiers.

As Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer manages the "consequences of war" as the injured go into the arms of the VA. It's why Buyer led a bi-partisan Congressional delegation, including VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, to gather information on medical treatment for our military. The trip included visits to combat hospitals in Kuwait, Baghdad, Balad and Fallujah.

"We saw patients coming in on gurneys with paper files taped to their bodies. It's important because it helps they don't get lost. But if it were an electronic file there is no way it would get lost," said Nicholson.

Buyer calls it a clear sign of the difficulty that still stops the sharing of medical records between the military and the VA.

"We need to move to a patient electronic medical record, use a chip in an ID or dog tag, whereby when a soldier goes down on a battlefield and he can't speak to us, all we have to do is insert that chip and we'll know everything about his medical history," explained Buyer.

But for now, injured soldiers will carry their own. Senior military officials told Congressman Buyer it will be five to ten years before full electronic medical records are available. At the VA, all 7.5 million patients are already on electronic medical records.

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