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American Morning

Battlefield Casualties

Aired April 11, 2003 - 09:40   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: I'm joined right now by medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. I think it's fair to say that some of the more extraordinary stories we've seen from this war have come from Dr. Gupta and also the Devil Doc, who he has been following. s Sanjay, good to have you back among us.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and really interesting, Daryn. There was extraordinary stories.

A lot of consequences of the actions, the bang bang that we've been hearing so much north, these Devil Docs stationed south of Baghdad. The most frontline surgical company saw the consequences of a lot of that.

The triage process -- and I think we have video here. The triage process, some of the most interesting to look at. These helicopters, literally, Black Hawk helicopters coming in and out with patients on them. And as you see, all the sand being kicked up there by these helicopters. The patients then transferred off, often wrapped up completely to try to avoid getting in the sand and taken to ambulances and about a hundred meters away, a triage area. Several doctors and general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, all sort of taking an inventory of the patients, both Iraqi and coalition force members.

And Daryn, something we talked about -- by about 80 percent, 20 percent in terms of Iraqis versus coalition force members, most recently. In this particular instance, some of the video you're looking at were actually all Marines from a firefight inside central Baghdad. A couple of rocket propelled grenades causing all these injuries to the mouth, to the limbs, to the head, all over. Two Marines killed in that particular firefight. One of the Marines described to me actually watching two of his comrades fall.

After their operations are performed, after the triage process takes place, they are then medevaced on a -- in this case, a C-130 plane. Big plane -- if you've seen one of these, very large cargo plane, typically -- but the particular plane you're looking at now is a plane that's outfitted specifically for medical evacuations and then taken to the hospitals in Kuwait City, 25 marines.

Daryn, another interesting point. American flags on these C-130 planes and we asked why, as we asked why so many times. And they're there in case someone does die on the plane and they can wrap the body right then. And just -- just one of those really poignant moments of war. We saw that happen.

KAGAN: We've seen so much in the last few weeks in your experience here. I'm just wondering, back in Atlanta and your practice as a -- as a neurosurgeon, you do see a lot of trauma and you do do a lot of trauma surgery. How does it compare with the wounds you saw in the battlefield?

GUPTA: Well, I'll tell you, the wounds are different here. I had never seen anything like this. Atlanta is a big urban center. We saw a lot of gun and knife -- we call it gun and knife injuries. But these are large caliber bullets. I mean, they're rocket propelled grenades, terms that I'd never heard of, let alone seen, and the injuries that they can cause, not even just from the weapon itself, but often from the shrapnel. They can take off entire limbs. And you know, nobody wants to be too graphic when describing these things, but this was the reality. This is what we saw, faces being injured, limbs, all sorts of different injuries. Obviously, also lost lives as well.

KAGAN: And just real quickly, the breaking news that we're hearing from Walter Rodgers about preventing another suicide bomber. You and I were having a chance to visit and you were talking about what it feels like personally to be out there, be on a convoy and just see any kind of civilian vehicle go by and you just don't know if that person means well or harm.

GUPTA: No. And -- and Daryn, this -- this was a -- it was so tough, because we really saw it from both sides. A young -- a young boy and his mother who were essentially shot down because they're in one of these civilian vehicles. The concern being, does this vehicle have a bomb on it? And at some point, you just sort of say, Gosh, it was a kid and his mom, you know? On the other hand, when you're in these convoys and see these civilian vehicles pull up next to you, you ask yourself, Boy, does that -- does that vehicle have a bomb on it? So you really see it from both sides. And I -- it's -- you struggle with that. You really do. I think everybody does.

KAGAN: It takes a long time to process all that you've been through in the last few weeks.

GUPTA: Yes.

KAGAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, good to have you back with us safe here in Kuwait City.

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 11, 2003 - 09:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm joined right now by medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. I think it's fair to say that some of the more extraordinary stories we've seen from this war have come from Dr. Gupta and also the Devil Doc, who he has been following. s Sanjay, good to have you back among us.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and really interesting, Daryn. There was extraordinary stories.

A lot of consequences of the actions, the bang bang that we've been hearing so much north, these Devil Docs stationed south of Baghdad. The most frontline surgical company saw the consequences of a lot of that.

The triage process -- and I think we have video here. The triage process, some of the most interesting to look at. These helicopters, literally, Black Hawk helicopters coming in and out with patients on them. And as you see, all the sand being kicked up there by these helicopters. The patients then transferred off, often wrapped up completely to try to avoid getting in the sand and taken to ambulances and about a hundred meters away, a triage area. Several doctors and general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, all sort of taking an inventory of the patients, both Iraqi and coalition force members.

And Daryn, something we talked about -- by about 80 percent, 20 percent in terms of Iraqis versus coalition force members, most recently. In this particular instance, some of the video you're looking at were actually all Marines from a firefight inside central Baghdad. A couple of rocket propelled grenades causing all these injuries to the mouth, to the limbs, to the head, all over. Two Marines killed in that particular firefight. One of the Marines described to me actually watching two of his comrades fall.

After their operations are performed, after the triage process takes place, they are then medevaced on a -- in this case, a C-130 plane. Big plane -- if you've seen one of these, very large cargo plane, typically -- but the particular plane you're looking at now is a plane that's outfitted specifically for medical evacuations and then taken to the hospitals in Kuwait City, 25 marines.

Daryn, another interesting point. American flags on these C-130 planes and we asked why, as we asked why so many times. And they're there in case someone does die on the plane and they can wrap the body right then. And just -- just one of those really poignant moments of war. We saw that happen.

KAGAN: We've seen so much in the last few weeks in your experience here. I'm just wondering, back in Atlanta and your practice as a -- as a neurosurgeon, you do see a lot of trauma and you do do a lot of trauma surgery. How does it compare with the wounds you saw in the battlefield?

GUPTA: Well, I'll tell you, the wounds are different here. I had never seen anything like this. Atlanta is a big urban center. We saw a lot of gun and knife -- we call it gun and knife injuries. But these are large caliber bullets. I mean, they're rocket propelled grenades, terms that I'd never heard of, let alone seen, and the injuries that they can cause, not even just from the weapon itself, but often from the shrapnel. They can take off entire limbs. And you know, nobody wants to be too graphic when describing these things, but this was the reality. This is what we saw, faces being injured, limbs, all sorts of different injuries. Obviously, also lost lives as well.

KAGAN: And just real quickly, the breaking news that we're hearing from Walter Rodgers about preventing another suicide bomber. You and I were having a chance to visit and you were talking about what it feels like personally to be out there, be on a convoy and just see any kind of civilian vehicle go by and you just don't know if that person means well or harm.

GUPTA: No. And -- and Daryn, this -- this was a -- it was so tough, because we really saw it from both sides. A young -- a young boy and his mother who were essentially shot down because they're in one of these civilian vehicles. The concern being, does this vehicle have a bomb on it? And at some point, you just sort of say, Gosh, it was a kid and his mom, you know? On the other hand, when you're in these convoys and see these civilian vehicles pull up next to you, you ask yourself, Boy, does that -- does that vehicle have a bomb on it? So you really see it from both sides. And I -- it's -- you struggle with that. You really do. I think everybody does.

KAGAN: It takes a long time to process all that you've been through in the last few weeks.

GUPTA: Yes.

KAGAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, good to have you back with us safe here in Kuwait City.

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