European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 9 i cant think of a More devastating in the most tragic instances a lot of us say to ourselves sometimes life is worse than f f Kevin Brooke army medical Center at army Burn anguish and survival Texas facility has High recovery rate by Sharon Cohen the associated press san Antonio the five badly burned sol Diers arrived around 11 sedated and swathed in bandages from head to foot the screech of the planes wheels on the tar Mac and waiting ambulances marking the end of a Kevin Chung waited inside Brooke army medical Center As the ambulance Convoy zipped through its he knew the sol Diers were coming in from Germa after being evacuated from a three continent and this was the finish now Chung and some 30 Doc nurses and others took they Cut open the mens bandages using diagrams of the human mapped the soldiers Burns shading in red for Blue for seconded Gree to plan for they called the soldiers Fame they needed permission to of the men had been injured Days earlier when a Roadside bomb turned their Bradley fighting vehicle into an one Man who had escaped ran Back to help a trapped this ones the Chung As the first Stretcher rolled there All a nurse re Chung did a Bronchoscopy to Check the heros he threaded a fiber optic scope into the tube connecting the Soldier to a warlike soot deposits appeared on a video to it looked As if some one had smoked 100 packs of cigarettes in 10 if this Soldier the one who had escaped had so much lung what about the men who had been trapped he examined them and answered his own ques their lungs were above Kevin Chung tends to a Burn patient at Brooke army medical Center in san Antonio on May right Roy wears his wedding ring Over gloves that protect his Burn scarred hands As he goes through therapy at photos by Eric one of a kind Brookes Burn Center the Only one of its kind for the nations military has its own rhythms and the centers 40 Beds Are tucked in a fourth floor Wing of the Sand coloured Hospital at fort Sam in the Halls and on the there Are constant remind ers of the War the scarred Young the clocks set to Iraq and Afghanistan this is a place where patients celebrate every Small step toward recovery and where a Grimace Speaks More eloquently than its also a place with a quiet sense of doctors operate in 90degree sometimes six at once working on a Soldier Nurs in masks and Long sweat As they scrub Down patients in steaming showers families longing for the Day loved ones will emerge from the cocoon of in another another Many patients probably would never have made it this but troops today have better body fast evacuation from the Battlefield to War zone Hospi then state theart treat ment in Germany and the United Brooke has special teams that Fly to Lan Stuhl regional medi treated for Burns the Brooke army medical centers bum unit in san Antonio has received More than 570 admissions from Iraq and about 6 percent have but Many survivors Are permanently Burn unit admissions total 572 200 153 032004 2005 2006 2007 As of april source department of defense a Cal Center in Germany to bring Home the most severe cases on a c17 sometimes handling emergencies in once patients arrive at skin grafts Are usually done with in 24 hours to stave off the major cause of de Cades doctors waited Days or weeks to do Brookes bum Center also treats but these Days there is a steady flow of wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan More than 570 thus of which Only about 6 percent have Many Are permanently some also suf Fer from blast related such As head injuries or Frac others cant Cut their food or tie their we now have an entirely new population of Burn survivors with oftentimes lifelong and life changing said Evan a Brooke you have to believe that youre doing the Best thing for the patient by helping them Renz you have to believe that in the when All is said and they will be glad they made it the news turns grim Chung woke from a Quick Nap on his office Couch the morning after the five badly burned sol Diers and walked Down the Hall to Check on All were but the news quickly turned one Soldier went into his lungs and kidneys he died without regaining with Chung patients can then suddenly take a turn for the worse All the while dealing with excruciating i cant think of a More devas Tating he in the most tragic instances a lot of us say to ourselves sometimes life is worse than of the five Burn one was transferred out of intensive the hero was then an infection set in and he within four of the five were Chung had lost patients but each he leaves him you walk a he i Tell the family members that they need to be at the same i dont want to be the person to take away How can you justify giving up on any body Send us a photo of yourself Reading stars and stripes for a Chance to win Cool shirts and a Nintendo Wii game console grand