Military hospital handles flood of horrific injuries (8/8/04)

Trauma comes and goes at 'the Cash' / Military hospital handles flood of horrific injuries
SFC0000020040808e0880001p
NEWS
John Koopman
Chronicle Staff Writer
1463 Words
08 August 2004
The San Francisco Chronicle
FINAL
A.14
English
Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Baghdad

It's called a "mass cal." It stands for mass casualties, and it happens all too often at the 31st Combat Support Hospital.

A car bomb goes off, or a convoy of soldiers comes under attack by roadside bombs or rocket-propelled grenades. The wounded come in by helicopter or ambulance. Many of them are missing arms or legs, or both.

One happened a couple of weeks ago after a mortar attack up north. It was the first mass cal for Capt. Jacquie Lewis of Atlanta.

"There was a man with a severe head wound," said Lewis, an Army social worker pressed into service for the mass cal. "His brains were exposed. It was awful.

"He didn't make it."

[partial text only]