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CNN Live At Daybreak
Surgery in the War Zone
Aired April 05, 2003 - 05:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Carol.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has helped perform another surgery with the Navy doctors known as the Devil Docs. We're going to get details now from the devil -- from the devil -- from the doctor himself.
Sanjay, knowing you, I know you're going to want to get to what you did afterwards. First, can you brief us on what exactly is happening there right now and what's taking place behind you?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn, this is a tent called SSD shock stabilization triage, an extremely busy center over the past several hours, over 70 patients over the last two days.
Just behind, me a lot of activity with a patients being brought in, having a breathing tube put in, possibly going to have an operation. That has been standard, really just a few patients every hour.
I will tell you a couple of things, Daryn. First of all, the caliber of injuries has greatly increased. Now while beginning a few weeks ago we saw a lot more broken ankles, leg, things like that, we're starting to see a lot more things like what you already said, gunshot wounds to the head, chest, abdomen. These surgeons are really operating non-stop.
Just over to my right, after a patient comes here they then possibly go to the operating rooms, of which there are four. And then after that, there is a make shift ICU, intensive care unit. So really an elaborate operation, again all of that here in the middle of the desert. There's dirt on the floor. It's 100 degrees outside, very hot. These -- a lot of these surgeons operating in their mop gear so you can sort of see what it's like first hand.
As you mentioned, a few hours ago, an Iraqi came in with a gunshot wound to the head, a very significant gunshot wound to the head -- the right side -- the surgeons here who I developed a good repertoire with, Daryn, there and as you know, asked me if I would come take a look and then take the patient to the operating room. Not too different from the situation a couple of days ago with the two- year-old child. We did take this patient to the operating room. I'm happy to report the operation was a success. The patient is doing well and is actually going to be medivaced out of here back to a hospital. A couple of interesting points. Iraqi EPWs, as they're called by the enemy prisoners of war -- cannot go to Kuwait. They are not accepted in Kuwait. So they either go to the USNS Comfort, which is a ship, a hospital ship the middle of the ocean or they go to Germany. Those are the two places, Daryn. And as we're talking helicopters taking off and landing just to the left. This one taking some patients away. Another one brining some patients in. Again, that's been the pattern.
Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Yes, Sanjay the fact that you're participating in some of these surgeries is making news back home. I think some people are surprised to find out that with the Devil Doc group that you're with that they don't have another neurosurgeon. How do you explain that?
GUPTA: I think you -- I think what I heard you say, there's a helicopter again Daryn so I apologize -- but you were asking about neurosurgery and whether or not they had them here. They don't have neurosurgeons on this particular medical unit at least this far forward.
It's an interesting question, Daryn. I think one of the things that the doctors thought about before employing these surgical stations -- and by the way, these are the first time they've really been used like this -- is a pattern of head injuries that shouldn't be that common because of the Kevlar helmets and things like that.
What we're finding is a couple of things. One is that a lot of the gunshot wounds to the head that we're seeing are actually coming in on Iraqi either civilians or soldiers. So a lot -- I think a lot of the forces over there are not wearing their helmets and sometimes coalition force members, just because of this intense heat, are also taking their helmets off sometimes on convoys, sometimes becoming the victims of sniper. So I think we're learning something here. A lot of the doctors have told me that they're learning that the number of head injuries that's unexpected, more than they expected. And this may mean a different sort of pattern in the future in terms of actually getting neurosurgeons to be a part of this process.
But the sorts of entries that we're seeing amongst the Iraqis -- again I apologize for the helicopter flying right over head now -- the pattern of injuries for the Iraqis are different than the pattern of injuries for the coalition forces. The coalition force members, because they wear their flack jackets, because they frequently wear their helmets, they often don't get abdominal gunshot wounds or chest wounds or head wounds. Often they're getting more extremity wounds, orthopedic wounds.
The Iraqi EPWs oftentimes are protected gear very different so you're getting a lot more of these other sorts of injuries all information sort of in progress in flux, stuff literally coming in here Daryn. Maybe you can see that.
This is what it's like. This is what it's like to take care of patients in the desert. The hot, dusty operating -- it's really just an amazing thing, but often a very successful one -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta reporting from central Iraq. Sanjay, thank you so much. We'll use that helicopter as our cue to let you -- to let you go.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 5, 2003 - 05:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Carol.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has helped perform another surgery with the Navy doctors known as the Devil Docs. We're going to get details now from the devil -- from the devil -- from the doctor himself.
Sanjay, knowing you, I know you're going to want to get to what you did afterwards. First, can you brief us on what exactly is happening there right now and what's taking place behind you?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn, this is a tent called SSD shock stabilization triage, an extremely busy center over the past several hours, over 70 patients over the last two days.
Just behind, me a lot of activity with a patients being brought in, having a breathing tube put in, possibly going to have an operation. That has been standard, really just a few patients every hour.
I will tell you a couple of things, Daryn. First of all, the caliber of injuries has greatly increased. Now while beginning a few weeks ago we saw a lot more broken ankles, leg, things like that, we're starting to see a lot more things like what you already said, gunshot wounds to the head, chest, abdomen. These surgeons are really operating non-stop.
Just over to my right, after a patient comes here they then possibly go to the operating rooms, of which there are four. And then after that, there is a make shift ICU, intensive care unit. So really an elaborate operation, again all of that here in the middle of the desert. There's dirt on the floor. It's 100 degrees outside, very hot. These -- a lot of these surgeons operating in their mop gear so you can sort of see what it's like first hand.
As you mentioned, a few hours ago, an Iraqi came in with a gunshot wound to the head, a very significant gunshot wound to the head -- the right side -- the surgeons here who I developed a good repertoire with, Daryn, there and as you know, asked me if I would come take a look and then take the patient to the operating room. Not too different from the situation a couple of days ago with the two- year-old child. We did take this patient to the operating room. I'm happy to report the operation was a success. The patient is doing well and is actually going to be medivaced out of here back to a hospital. A couple of interesting points. Iraqi EPWs, as they're called by the enemy prisoners of war -- cannot go to Kuwait. They are not accepted in Kuwait. So they either go to the USNS Comfort, which is a ship, a hospital ship the middle of the ocean or they go to Germany. Those are the two places, Daryn. And as we're talking helicopters taking off and landing just to the left. This one taking some patients away. Another one brining some patients in. Again, that's been the pattern.
Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Yes, Sanjay the fact that you're participating in some of these surgeries is making news back home. I think some people are surprised to find out that with the Devil Doc group that you're with that they don't have another neurosurgeon. How do you explain that?
GUPTA: I think you -- I think what I heard you say, there's a helicopter again Daryn so I apologize -- but you were asking about neurosurgery and whether or not they had them here. They don't have neurosurgeons on this particular medical unit at least this far forward.
It's an interesting question, Daryn. I think one of the things that the doctors thought about before employing these surgical stations -- and by the way, these are the first time they've really been used like this -- is a pattern of head injuries that shouldn't be that common because of the Kevlar helmets and things like that.
What we're finding is a couple of things. One is that a lot of the gunshot wounds to the head that we're seeing are actually coming in on Iraqi either civilians or soldiers. So a lot -- I think a lot of the forces over there are not wearing their helmets and sometimes coalition force members, just because of this intense heat, are also taking their helmets off sometimes on convoys, sometimes becoming the victims of sniper. So I think we're learning something here. A lot of the doctors have told me that they're learning that the number of head injuries that's unexpected, more than they expected. And this may mean a different sort of pattern in the future in terms of actually getting neurosurgeons to be a part of this process.
But the sorts of entries that we're seeing amongst the Iraqis -- again I apologize for the helicopter flying right over head now -- the pattern of injuries for the Iraqis are different than the pattern of injuries for the coalition forces. The coalition force members, because they wear their flack jackets, because they frequently wear their helmets, they often don't get abdominal gunshot wounds or chest wounds or head wounds. Often they're getting more extremity wounds, orthopedic wounds.
The Iraqi EPWs oftentimes are protected gear very different so you're getting a lot more of these other sorts of injuries all information sort of in progress in flux, stuff literally coming in here Daryn. Maybe you can see that.
This is what it's like. This is what it's like to take care of patients in the desert. The hot, dusty operating -- it's really just an amazing thing, but often a very successful one -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta reporting from central Iraq. Sanjay, thank you so much. We'll use that helicopter as our cue to let you -- to let you go.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com