Summary

NAME: AFG US HOSP 20070517Iflat TAPE: EF07/0582 IN_TIME: 10:06:54:00 DURATION: 00:03:38:01 SOURCES: AP TELEVISION DATELINE: Zabul - Various RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST ++ PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING ARE PICTURES FROM AN AP CAMERAMAN EMBEDDED WITH US TROOPS ++ April 18, 2007 1 Mid shot of US Army Captain Richard M Slusher in his room on Lagman Military Base in the Zabul province UPSOUND: (English) Here's a Goofy hat My son gave me this to wear it in surgery So I am going to wear that in surgery 2 Mid shot of Slusher leaving his room - getting ready to go to the military field hospital on base 3 Tracking shot of Afghan National Police officer injured by a roadside bomb being carried into the military field hospital ++Night Shot++ 4 Wide of Slusher entering and looking at the injured man's legs 5 Close of military doctor treating injured police officer April 19, 2007 6 SOUNDBITE: (English) Captain Richard M Slusher, US Army 541st Forward Surgical Team: How you deal with somebody coming in and has their leg blown off or their arm blown off or is on the verge of death and you have to try to bring him back But its always rewarding when you can do something for them Either save their life or save their limb, which is what I do, save their limbs'' April 18, 2007 7 Doctors working on injured policeman April 19, 2007 8 SOUNDBITE: (English) Major George B Lantz, US Army 541st Forward Surgical Team: The majority of the patients that we have seen here have been Afghan National Army There have been other coalition forces that had come through in addition to US soldiers But primarily we had seen the vast majority being Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police April 18, 2007 9 Pan from music player on table to doctors treating injured police officer April 19, 2007 10 SOUNDBITE: (English) Captain Richard M Slusher, US Army 541st Forward Surgical Team: We just play music Things make you happy, things that make you feel good, so that you know that what has happened on this person on the table, you are trying to do the best for them But you want to be comfortable, you want to think of other things besides what is in front of you April 18, 2007 11 Mid shot of Slusher working on injured policeman April 19, 2007 12 SOUNDBITE: (English) Major George B Lantz, US Army 541st Forward Surgical Team: The stress definitely brings you together When we have a mass casualty and there are 10, 15 patients coming in at once, the relationships that we've built over the past few months really strengthen what we do'' April 18, 2007 13 Mid shot of US Army doctors preparing to operate on injured policeman 14 Close of monitor on policeman's finger 15 Close of heart rate monitor 16 Various of doctors operating on policeman April 20, 2007 17 SOUNDBITE: (English) Captain Richard M Slusher, US Army 541st Forward Surgical Team: I just basically explain to him what I am doing Why we are here Why I do what I do and what I do He is only five right now so he is not able to read it But hopefully when he is 15, 16 years from now, he will be able to look back on this and he will be able to read this and he will be able to understand why we are here, what I am doing And explain why I left for a year of his life 18 Close pan of photographs of Slusher's children on wall 19 Pan down from photographs on wall to Slusher sitting on bed 20 Close of computer screen as Slusher writes to his son 21 Various of Slusher typing on laptop computer STORYLINE As a member of the US Army's 541st Forward Surgical Team stationed in the Zabul mountains in in south-eastern Afghanistan, Captain Richard M Slusher faces life and death situations everyday, a far cry from his past life as a sports medicine specialist in Cincinnati Slusher recently found himself unable to save an eight-year-old boy rushed to the US military base after being fatally injured by one of the many unexploded bomb scattered across Zabul's landscape Hours earlier, Slusher and his colleagues were forced to amputate an Afghan police officer's legs after he was injured in a roadside bomb attack The attack killed one man and injured six others How you deal with somebody coming in and has their leg blown off or their arm blown off or is on the verge of death and you have to try to bring him back But its always rewarding when you can do something for them, Slusher told an Associated Press Television cameraman embedded with the US Army in Zabul It's a long way from the small incision, computer-guided arthroscopic surgery on athletes' knees that Slusher is used to performing Slusher told AP television that he has dealt with situations in Afghanistan that he had never encountered before in his career He said he has performed more amputations in the past six months than ever before It does not seem unlikely that things will slow down during the second half of his yearlong tour with the US Army's 541st Forward Surgical Team The 10-man unit is half the size of a standard Army surgical team The unit treats mostly US, coalition and Afghan military and police forces The majority of the patients that we have seen here have been Afghan National Army There have been other coalition forces that had come through in addition to US soldiers But primarily we had seen the vast majority being Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police, said Major George B Lantz, the anaesthetist of the team The understaffed unit, housed in two small rooms, is the most sophisticated medical facility in Zabul Which means that the medical team are often overwhelmed with casualties But Lantz says that the stress definitely brings the team together When we have a mass casualty and there are 10, 15 patients coming in at once, the relationships that we've built over the past few months really strengthen what we do,said Lantz In February, nine seriously injured soldiers were rushed to the medical unit after US Chinook helicopter crash in Zabul that killed eight other soldiers All nine injured soldiers, including ones with severed spinal cords and severe trauma, were stabilised and evacuated from the unit with eight hours But Slusher is looking forward to the day when he can retire after 17 years in the service and open a private sports medicine practice He is also looking forward to going home to his family Slusher keeps a diary of his time in Afghanistan on a laptop computer for his five year old son, back in the United States He writes to him everyday from his room on Lagman Military Base in Zabul I just basically explain to him what I am doing Why we are here Why I do what I do and what I do He is only five right now so he is not able to read it But hopefully when he is 15, 16 years from now, he will be able to look back on this and he will be able to read this and he will be able to understand why we are here, what I am doing And explain why I left for a year of his life, said Slusher