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Caring for soldiers humbles ortho surgeon
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by Cindy Abole
Public Relations
The mission to provide care for America’s injured soldiers in today’s
combat zones is not limited to the U.S. military; it’s also supported
by a team of civilian medical specialists who are committed to
improving patient care.
For two weeks in June, Langdon Hartsock, M.D., chairman of MUSC’s
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, travelled 4,600 miles away from MUSC
to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in western Germany and home to the
largest American military hospital outside of the United States.
Hartsock assisted military orthopaedic surgeons and helped treat
casualties coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. He supported efforts in
military medicine and improved knowledge and research with war-related
injuries.
Hartsock was selected among a group of national orthopaedic surgeons to
participate in the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) and
Orthopedic Trauma Association’s (OTA) Distinguished Visiting Scholars
Program launched in 2007. The selection committee, composed of
tri-service military members, a Landstuhl hospital representative and a
civilian board member, reviewed each candidate’s credentials. Criteria
focused on fellowship-trained orthopedic trauma specialists (possessing
10-plus years in trauma care medicine and education), demonstrated
leadership, and a dedication to teaching..
“I consider it a great honor to be among colleagues picked for this
program. I wanted to go and serve and do my part in providing the best
care for America’s brave fighting men and women,” said Hartsock,
himself a military veteran of the Navy Medical Corps. When he asked his
military physician-friends what more could civilian doctors do to
support America’s military abroad, one suggested the visiting scholars
program.
Coordinated care approach
Hartsock was contacted last fall and, subsequently, reported for duty
June 1 at Landstuhl Medical Center’s Orthopedic Clinic. He worked
alongside a staff of eight military physicians and nursing staff. Two
physicians were always dedicated to the care of incoming Iraq and
Afghanistan casualties. The team focused on providing specialized care
for major extremity wounds and helped stabilize and prepare patients
for their flight home. Hartsock spent time teaching battlefield
surgeons and physicians about new orthopaedic procedures and exchanged
knowledge and experiences.
Landstuhl is the military’s only Level 4 tertiary care referral
facility, supporting more than 400,000 active duty service men and
women and their dependents stationed in Europe, Africa and Southwest
Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones.
Throughout the experience, Hartsock was struck by the Landstuhl
hospital staff’s commitment and unwavering dedication of care for each
patient. “There was this amazing sense of purpose and positive morale
everywhere,” he said. “These people were completely dedicated to the
mental and physical care of each soldier and Marine.”
Realities of war
A trained orthopaedic trauma surgeon for 15 years, Hartsock was more
familiar treating victims of car crashes, falls and sports-related
injuries than repairing the effects of blast injuries; often combined
with the loss of limbs and severe fractures caused by roadside bombs or
improvised explosive device or IEDs, gun fire, etc. He saw it a
blessing that many wounded warriors were young, healthy and in
outstanding physical shape, which helped their chances of survival and
recovery.
In 2003, the military streamlined their medical care system for
transporting injured soldiers from the battlefield home. In the first
level of care, a solider wounded in a combat zone would receive
battlefield first aid. If the injuries were serious, the soldier’s care
would be transferred to a forward surgical team, whose responsibility
is to control any bleeding and stabilize the patient for helicopter
transport to a combat surgical hospital (CSH) within the theater.
Today’s CSH, or Cash, are equipped with high-tech scanners and advanced
imaging equipment to help assess the patient’s condition. Seriously
injured patients are transported to a fixed hospital facility
(Landstuhl) via specially-equipped C-17 aircraft. At Landstuhl,
patients are triaged for either surgery, other treatment or assigned to
a room where they can recover and return to their unit or go stateside
for recovery and rehabilitation at American military hospitals in
Maryland, the District of Columbia and other locations.
As part of the facilities’ commitment to quality patient care,
orthopaedic specialists regularly participate in weekly video link-up
conferences with battlefield physicians and medical colleagues in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Walter Reed Army Hospital (Washington, D.C.) and the
National Naval Medical Center (Bethesda, Md.) to discuss care and
follow-up details on patients. The meetings demonstrate a priority for
health care team collaboration and communication with participants
located more than half-way around the world.
This fall, Hartsock will present at the AAOS/OTA’s extremity war
injuries research symposium. The gathering allows orthopaedic surgeons,
who support related research, the chance to share and discuss new
knowledge and treatments developed for wound care, bone healing,
prosthetic technology and furthering basic science in understanding the
body’s injury repair processes.
“It was humbling to see what our military health care teams are doing,”
Hartsock said. “I feel I’ve gained a better appreciation of our
country’s military perspective and mission. We owe a debt of gratitude
to these men and women for their service, and when they get hurt, we
should do what we can to assist them in the best way possible.”
Friday, Aug. 21, 2009
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