Camp Bastion hospital works day and night to save lives

Published on Sunday 12 July 2009 21:50

MORE than 30 wounded British soldiers were flown into Camp Bastion off the battlefield in Afghanistan and the operating theatre went through more than 100 pints of blood products over the weekend.

Doctors, nurses and staff at the field hospital at Britain's Camp Bastion worked around the clock, sometimes with 15-16 staff tending to a single badly-injured patient.

The 33-bed hospital was already almost full when the carnage began, but never overflowed.

Almost as quickly as helicopters arrived from the battlefield, planes and other aircraft took stabilised casualties to Kabul or the UK.

"We've had some very badly injured young people go back to Birmingham, and go back to Birmingham in very good shape. And I think there's no question that the hospital system has saved lives," said Colonel Peter Mahoney, the hospital's director.

Commanders say they expected a surge of casualties this summer, part of what they aim to be a decisive push to take advantage of US reinforcements and seize Taleban-held territory ahead of an Afghan presidential election next month.

Taleban casualty figures were not immediately available.

Britain and the United States have launched simultaneous operations this month in Afghanistan's most violent province, Helmand, nearly half of which was under Taleban control until this month.

Col Mahoney said the hospital had been warned in advance that a big operation was being planned, and had mobilised additional staff in expectation of a surge in casualties.

"There's no doubt it has been wearing. But none of the staff have ever complained and said they hadn't wanted to do it. Everybody's risen up to the occasion," Col Mahoney said.

Captain Jac Solghan, a nurse from the US Air Force working at the hospital, said he had worked 32 hours straight from the early hours of Saturday morning, looking after patient arrivals from the battlefield and their evacuations to hospitals further on.

"We'd just stay and keep working and working," he said. "That morning the hospital had not quite full capacity.

"By the time we ended the day, the hospital was still full and we were still pushing patients out."