The National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC has rebuilt a part of Air Force’s Baghdad emergency hospital, a place that treated most of the severe injuries in the area. For the exhibit, titled “Trauma Bay II, Balad, Iraq”, the actual concrete floor of the emergency room was flown in, a place where many believe the most American military blood was spilled since the Vietnam war.
From Air Force Link:
“Back in 2004, when the Army’s Combat Support Hospital was built on the site, the tents were built on concrete slabs. The trauma bays in the emergency room were marked with tape on the floor,” said Capt. Scott Miller, the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Support Squadron logistics chief, deployed from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. “When I was here in 2006, the (emergency room’s) bays were marked with painted numbers on the concrete floor.
“Because of the operations tempo being so high, later rotations ended up gluing a piece of vinyl sheeting to the top of the concrete to make it easier to clean and keep the area more hygienic,” Captain Miller said. “The sheeting is actually the portion of the floor that is scuffed and stained with Betadine Scrub, which is an iodine-based antiseptic that is used on skin to help clean it before medical procedures can be performed.”
After the newly built Air Force Theater Hospital became fully operational, Airmen were tasked to tear down the old hospital, which drew the attention of some congress members.
In particular, the historical significance of the bay marked with “II”, known as Bay II, is where the most severe trauma cases brought into the hospital were treated. This area has earned the recognition of being the location where the most lives were lost and saved in the Iraq theater of operations.
“When Congressman Michael Burgess (Texas) came to Balad (AB) and toured the old and new hospital facilities in August, he realized the importance of the old structure and requested that the Bay II floor of the trauma center be preserved for historical purposes,” Captain Miller said. “That is when the coordination for the preservation of the hospital began.”
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Full story: EXHIBIT FEATURING EMERGENCY ROOM FROM AIR FORCE HOSPITAL IN BALAD, IRAQ OPENS AT NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE …