U.S. patient load surges at military hospital in Germany
By Katharine A. Schmidt, Special for USA TODAY
LANDSTUHL, Germany — The number of injured U.S. military personnel arriving at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center this week — most from the offensive against insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah — reached its highest level since April, a U.S. military official here said Sunday.

An Army helicopter crew delivers a Marine seriously wounded in Fallujah to Baghdad. The Marine later died of his wounds.
John Moore, AP

The troops coming in over the past week have been more seriously injured than usual, and twice as many have been wounded in battle, said Army Col. Rhonda Cornum, commander of the hospital. She added that the influx has not yet let up.

"When I see a sustained decrease over more than 24 hours, I'll believe it," Cornum said.

Landstuhl is a medical center that treats U.S. military personnel stationed in Europe, the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Patients treated here are not capable of returning to duty within seven working days.

Cornum said 419 patients, including one American civilian, have been flown for treatment to Landstuhl since Nov. 8, the day after the offensive began against militants in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad. (Related item: Troops target insurgent holdouts in Fallujah)

She said 95% of those patients have come from Iraq, and 5% from Afghanistan. Most of those from Iraq were wounded in Fallujah, but Cornum could not say exactly how many.

There have been two peaks in the patient load: 98 arrived Thursday, 44 on Friday, 94 on Saturday, and 49 on Sunday, Cornum said. All of the patients have been U.S. citizens.

Cornum said the last time the hospital experienced a similar surge of patients was in April, when U.S. forces led a previous offensive on Fallujah. Before the new offensive, the average number of patients admitted daily had been 32. In the past week, that number has more than doubled to 70. On Sunday, the number of patients in the hospital was 150, compared with the typical average of 100. The injuries suffered include gunshot and blast wounds and burns.

The seriousness of injuries is reflected by the number of inpatients.

About half the patients admitted since the Fallujah offensive began have needed to be hospitalized. Hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw said most patients usually receive outpatient care.

More than 50% of incoming patients have had battle wounds this past week, compared with 25% before the offensive. Among those seriously injured patients, 37 are in the intensive care unit.

Because of the heavier-than-usual load and the increased seriousness of injuries, the hospital has had to call in help from military facilities in the area.

Doctors have been working longer shifts and skipping days off. The hospital also has had two times the normal number of chaplains on duty, Cornum said.

"This was not a holiday weekend for us," said Air Force Col. Todd Hess, deputy commander for clinical services, referring to Veterans Day.

The hospital staff numbered 1,800 before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. A hospital reserve unit has joined the staff since then.

Some additional support staff has been brought in since the Fallujah offensive began. No specifics were provided.

The number of beds in the medical-surgical ward has grown from 64 to 117. The number could be increased if necessary, Cornum said. The intensive care unit has gone from 20 to 27 beds.

There is a bright spot amid the news of heavy casualties: Many more servicemembers survive battlefield injuries than during the Persian Gulf War, Cornum said.

Since the war in 1991, military forces have upgraded surgical teams near the battlefield and introduced medical transport flights that can get a servicemember to Landstuhl in 12 hours.

"Many people in other wars died of their wounds," Cornum said. "The number of survivors of injuries is much higher now."

Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, the staff at Landstuhl has treated 20,330 patients, Shaw said. Of those, more than 95% were Americans. More than 3,000 patients came from the Afghan conflict, and more than 17,200 from Iraq.

However, there are 36 nationalities among those patients, who include contractors for the U.S. military and servicemembers of coalition partners.

No Iraqis are being treated at Landstuhl.

Fourteen patients have died at Landstuhl since the invasion of Afghanistan in November 2001. None has died there during the latest Fallujah offensive.

Most patients stay three or four days, Shaw said.

Those who require further treatment are sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington or Bethesda (Md.) National Naval Medical Center.