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'Portraits in Courage' features AF medic

  • Published
  • By Air Force Print News
  • Medical Service
WASHINGTON --  Lt. Col. Dr. Charles McDannald's 20 years of experience as a medical professional were tested while deployed as part of a Special Operations Surgical Team to Ramadi, Iraq, in the Al Anbar Province. The five-person surgical team deployed with special operators where the flow of patients was unending, their wounds life threatening, and the surgical conditions less-than-perfect.

In the 100 days McDannald spent as the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist with the special operations team, he was part of 35 major life-saving surgeries, including four that required open heart massage to resuscitate the patients. He performed intense procedures to repair the damage done by roadside explosions, gunfire, suicide bombers and mortar attacks. Every day, the team resuscitated from one to 10 severely wounded people. Some of those were fellow Americans; others coalition partners, even insurgents or the innocent Iraqis caught in the crossfire. All received the skilled care of the dedicated team.

On Sept. 15, 2005, a 120-millemeter rocket struck McDannald's unit. The blast blew the sleeping quarter's door open of the off-duty members of the surgical team. The rocket killed one U.S. soldier instantly, and wounded three others. One of the three soldiers had an entrance wound to the right collarbone and had diminished breathing sounds. The surgical team sprung into action and determined that he was bleeding into the chest cavity. The wounded soldier went into surgery immediately, and the general surgeon was forced to open the rib cage to get to the source of the bleeding.

Despite the chaos that accompanied the post-attack operations, McDannald worked furiously administering blood, fluids and drugs to buy the surgeons enough time to stop massive blood loss. The team was determined not to lose the patient.

Shrapnel had lacerated a major vein and the surgeons worked swiftly to repair it. Like so many of the patients McDannald and the surgical team treated, the patient was stabilized and transported safely for further treatment to the medical center at Balad Air Base, Iraq.

McDannald is back home now, using his experience to treat patients at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, but the 100 days he spent in 2005 treating special operations warriors will forever be etched in his heart and mind.

NOTE: Courageous actions of 15 Airmen are highlighted in the inaugural edition of the Chief of Staff's "Portraits in Courage." The vignettes are available on Air Force Link under the "Portraits in Courage" area. The stories are also compiled in a soft-cover book being distributed in limited numbers to the major commands.