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American Morning

On the Front Lines

Aired April 21, 2003 - 08:44   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: He is now out of harm's way, but back in Iraq, where he spent the war embedded with a medical unit, known as the devil docs. They got very close to the front lines there. And on the front lines, where times when Dr. Sanjay Gupta had to turn from being a reporter to being part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The story we were trying to get was really to understand how medical care is given in the field. We ended up in northern Kuwait in the desert for sometime, and then ended up on a convoy, a multiple=car convoy, multiple-vehicle convoy, 89 vehicles, three miles long. They told us it would take about five hours to get to the location where we were going to get. It took 17.

We are here behind just the front lines on in an FRSS, front line resuscitative surgical suite. Right behind me, for the first time ever, an operation has been done on the abdomen for a gunshot wound.

The condition since we've been in Iraq have not been exactly what you'd call five-star. We have slept under the stars in sleeping bags, have slept in the back of a huge truck traveling through sniper- infested areas of Iraq. We don't have bathrooms out here. We don't have showers. I haven't showered in seven days now, and it probably shows.

We had a missile fly over our heads. We had bomb shelter calls. We had bunker calls, gas alarm calls. We had to put on these gas masks 16 times in 12 hours, having to do that sometimes sitting there for an hour at a time. Those were all new things clearly to me, and something that I saw the troops actually going through.

You have to be scared if you're here. We are seeing Marines killed in action. We are hearing about possible chemical and biological stuff. Absolutely we're scared.

Reflex, right. On the left. He's brain dead.

Just a few hours ago, they came up to me and said a 2-year-old child has a gunshot wound or a shrapnel wound of great significance to the head, would I be willing to come take a look at the patient and take the patient to the operating room. Medically and morally, I thought that was the right thing to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: He's back with us live, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Well done, my friend.

GUPTA: Thank you very much.

HEMMER: Congratulations to you. You said that you did not believe it was going to be as dangerous as it became. Relay to us a little bit how close you were in Iraq to the action.

GUPTA: Right, Bill. Well, I'll tell you, there were a lot of dangerous parts along the way. Certainly people associate danger with being close to the front lines. But also these convoy rides, which we've heard so much about now, long convoy rides, in come cases 17 hours, sometimes through sniper-infested areas. It was hot outside, Bill, as you know -- you were over in that area as well -- 120 degrees, sometimes people taking off their helmets. It could be a challenge sometimes in terms of danger in those convoy rides alone, but certainly we saw a lot of the sorts of injuries from the front line as well, just high-caliber guns and what that can do to the human body really just very scary, obviously very dangerous.

HEMMER: But a personal experience that will be treasured for a lifetime, I am certain.

Listen, a lot of people writing in e-mail online, Sanjay. We talked a little bit about some of the operations you performed. Alice in Purill (ph), Illinois wants to know, "Outside of what happened with the devil docs and the surgeries in which you were involved in, did they also spend a lot of time treating the Iraqi people for 'everyday' medical problems." Was that a priority?

GUPTA: Well, the unit that I was spending time with was actually a front line surgical unit, so their priority really was to take care of injuries that otherwise would die if they didn't get back to Kuwait or to Germany or to the USS (ph) Comfort In time. So these were really priority sorts of operations and treatments that needed to be taken care of right away, so the unit that I was with did not take care of everyday Iraqi medical problems. If there was something that needed to be done, a lot of time those patients were taken directly back to one of those three patients.

I like this next question, Sanjay. Jenette (ph) from San Antonio, Texas writes in and wonders, I would like to know what was the most difficult for them or you -- was it the environmental conditions of the war, or was it the death and dying, and was it possibly something else?"

How would you answer that?

HEMMER: I tell you, you know, the environmental conditions, not to underplay those. Those sandstorms, again, as you know, Bill, very, very hard to endure, interminable sand blowing in your eyes, your ears, you're eating it by the mouthful.

But I think for the unit that I was with, it really had to be the reality of war. I mean, these doctors could not turn their eyes away from some of these just unbelievably horrible images. You know, a lot of soldiers, a lot of other people in the field have that luxury, to be able to actually look the other way. These guys had to look it right in the face -- doctors, nurses, medics, corpsmen, everybody looking it right in the face. And I think that was probably the most difficult for us as well.

The realities of war in that situation could not be underplayed. I mean, it's just kids with their faces blown off, limbs missing. I don't -- you know, there's so many stories bubbling up in my head, Bill, as you know, about all of this.

But the realities of war, I think, were in evidence more so with these docs, with this unit, with the devil docs, probably more than anywhere else, and they took good care of that. They addressed it head-on, and took care of those situations. But I think when the adrenaline surge goes away, when they're home sitting on the couch for the first time and sort of realizing everything they've seen and done, a lot of those images will come back. I know they have for me.

HEMMER: Well, Sanjay, take that a step further. I remember watching some of these drills in the deserts of Kuwait before the war began, and yes, the medical teams are going through the motions, going through the paces, but not with a great sense of intensity. Was it your understanding that once the war was underway, that these devil docs were in for a lot more than they had planned?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting, Bill. I remember one of the sort of most poignant moments really was sitting there talking to a couple of these doctors about the recent basketball scores that we were getting, some news, what little news that we could, and just a few minutes later, they were rushing patients in who had been shot by high-caliber guns.

I guess the answer succinctly, yes, the training and exercises sometimes in the desert didn't seem like it could lead to the sorts of activities they actually had to perform under pressure, but they did it. All of those things became sort of a rote process and they were able to perform them and perform them well.

HEMMER: Listen, good to see you again, all right, even though it's by electronically. I know you were injured actually. A lot of our viewers may not understand. You hurt your back a little bit, but I understand you're OK, is that right?

GUPTA: Doing well. Doing well. Thanks for asking.

HEMMER: By the way, you looked like Pig Pen when you came back from Kuwait that first time. Did you see that videotape with Wolf? I mean, you were downright filthy.

GUPTA: And I didn't smell so good either. That's what Wolf told everybody.

HEMMER: Thanks, Sanjay. Job well done.

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 21, 2003 - 08:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: He is now out of harm's way, but back in Iraq, where he spent the war embedded with a medical unit, known as the devil docs. They got very close to the front lines there. And on the front lines, where times when Dr. Sanjay Gupta had to turn from being a reporter to being part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The story we were trying to get was really to understand how medical care is given in the field. We ended up in northern Kuwait in the desert for sometime, and then ended up on a convoy, a multiple=car convoy, multiple-vehicle convoy, 89 vehicles, three miles long. They told us it would take about five hours to get to the location where we were going to get. It took 17.

We are here behind just the front lines on in an FRSS, front line resuscitative surgical suite. Right behind me, for the first time ever, an operation has been done on the abdomen for a gunshot wound.

The condition since we've been in Iraq have not been exactly what you'd call five-star. We have slept under the stars in sleeping bags, have slept in the back of a huge truck traveling through sniper- infested areas of Iraq. We don't have bathrooms out here. We don't have showers. I haven't showered in seven days now, and it probably shows.

We had a missile fly over our heads. We had bomb shelter calls. We had bunker calls, gas alarm calls. We had to put on these gas masks 16 times in 12 hours, having to do that sometimes sitting there for an hour at a time. Those were all new things clearly to me, and something that I saw the troops actually going through.

You have to be scared if you're here. We are seeing Marines killed in action. We are hearing about possible chemical and biological stuff. Absolutely we're scared.

Reflex, right. On the left. He's brain dead.

Just a few hours ago, they came up to me and said a 2-year-old child has a gunshot wound or a shrapnel wound of great significance to the head, would I be willing to come take a look at the patient and take the patient to the operating room. Medically and morally, I thought that was the right thing to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: He's back with us live, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Well done, my friend.

GUPTA: Thank you very much.

HEMMER: Congratulations to you. You said that you did not believe it was going to be as dangerous as it became. Relay to us a little bit how close you were in Iraq to the action.

GUPTA: Right, Bill. Well, I'll tell you, there were a lot of dangerous parts along the way. Certainly people associate danger with being close to the front lines. But also these convoy rides, which we've heard so much about now, long convoy rides, in come cases 17 hours, sometimes through sniper-infested areas. It was hot outside, Bill, as you know -- you were over in that area as well -- 120 degrees, sometimes people taking off their helmets. It could be a challenge sometimes in terms of danger in those convoy rides alone, but certainly we saw a lot of the sorts of injuries from the front line as well, just high-caliber guns and what that can do to the human body really just very scary, obviously very dangerous.

HEMMER: But a personal experience that will be treasured for a lifetime, I am certain.

Listen, a lot of people writing in e-mail online, Sanjay. We talked a little bit about some of the operations you performed. Alice in Purill (ph), Illinois wants to know, "Outside of what happened with the devil docs and the surgeries in which you were involved in, did they also spend a lot of time treating the Iraqi people for 'everyday' medical problems." Was that a priority?

GUPTA: Well, the unit that I was spending time with was actually a front line surgical unit, so their priority really was to take care of injuries that otherwise would die if they didn't get back to Kuwait or to Germany or to the USS (ph) Comfort In time. So these were really priority sorts of operations and treatments that needed to be taken care of right away, so the unit that I was with did not take care of everyday Iraqi medical problems. If there was something that needed to be done, a lot of time those patients were taken directly back to one of those three patients.

I like this next question, Sanjay. Jenette (ph) from San Antonio, Texas writes in and wonders, I would like to know what was the most difficult for them or you -- was it the environmental conditions of the war, or was it the death and dying, and was it possibly something else?"

How would you answer that?

HEMMER: I tell you, you know, the environmental conditions, not to underplay those. Those sandstorms, again, as you know, Bill, very, very hard to endure, interminable sand blowing in your eyes, your ears, you're eating it by the mouthful.

But I think for the unit that I was with, it really had to be the reality of war. I mean, these doctors could not turn their eyes away from some of these just unbelievably horrible images. You know, a lot of soldiers, a lot of other people in the field have that luxury, to be able to actually look the other way. These guys had to look it right in the face -- doctors, nurses, medics, corpsmen, everybody looking it right in the face. And I think that was probably the most difficult for us as well.

The realities of war in that situation could not be underplayed. I mean, it's just kids with their faces blown off, limbs missing. I don't -- you know, there's so many stories bubbling up in my head, Bill, as you know, about all of this.

But the realities of war, I think, were in evidence more so with these docs, with this unit, with the devil docs, probably more than anywhere else, and they took good care of that. They addressed it head-on, and took care of those situations. But I think when the adrenaline surge goes away, when they're home sitting on the couch for the first time and sort of realizing everything they've seen and done, a lot of those images will come back. I know they have for me.

HEMMER: Well, Sanjay, take that a step further. I remember watching some of these drills in the deserts of Kuwait before the war began, and yes, the medical teams are going through the motions, going through the paces, but not with a great sense of intensity. Was it your understanding that once the war was underway, that these devil docs were in for a lot more than they had planned?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting, Bill. I remember one of the sort of most poignant moments really was sitting there talking to a couple of these doctors about the recent basketball scores that we were getting, some news, what little news that we could, and just a few minutes later, they were rushing patients in who had been shot by high-caliber guns.

I guess the answer succinctly, yes, the training and exercises sometimes in the desert didn't seem like it could lead to the sorts of activities they actually had to perform under pressure, but they did it. All of those things became sort of a rote process and they were able to perform them and perform them well.

HEMMER: Listen, good to see you again, all right, even though it's by electronically. I know you were injured actually. A lot of our viewers may not understand. You hurt your back a little bit, but I understand you're OK, is that right?

GUPTA: Doing well. Doing well. Thanks for asking.

HEMMER: By the way, you looked like Pig Pen when you came back from Kuwait that first time. Did you see that videotape with Wolf? I mean, you were downright filthy.

GUPTA: And I didn't smell so good either. That's what Wolf told everybody.

HEMMER: Thanks, Sanjay. Job well done.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com