The One I'll Always Remember by Gary L. Bloomfield

Author:Gary L. Bloomfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyons Press
Published: 2019-12-17T00:00:00+00:00

“I jam my thumb down on it to stop the bleeding. There is a flurry of motion around me. I hear our patient grunt as a central line goes in and a second trans-fusion is started. ‘Talk to him, guys,’ I say to the nurse at the head of the bed. ‘Tell him he’s going to be okay.’” AIR FORCE PHOTO

Blair and Spencer are transfusing the fourth unit of whole blood. Our Marine is rapidly improving. His pulse is steady in the 90s, and his base deficit is –6. Andy and I are done with his legs. Chief wraps a splint over the end of each stump, while I splint the Marine’s hand and forearm. I rip off the blood-soaked gown and step into the relative cool air of the communications tent. Someone hands me an ice-cold Gatorade and I pound it down. Someone hands me a phone, and I tell the British trauma surgeon at Camp Bastion what to expect in thirty minutes. This is our formal hand-off. At Bastion, our Marine will get “proper” hospital care, CT scans, and wound vacuums for his stumps. Our work will be formally critiqued and improved upon, as it will be as he makes his way up the echelons of care.

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