An Army doctor fights to save the foot of a wounded soldier.
That becomes clear every once in awhile when reviewing what the military wants to buy.
Check out this recent Army solicitation:
PURCHASE FRESH FROZEN CADAVERS FOR COMBAT EXTREMITY SURGERY COURSE
Not quite sure if it’s the word “cadaver” that bothers Battleland as much as its proximity to “fresh frozen.”
“Southern Regional Contracting Office has a requirement for Cadavers for the Combat Extremity Surgery Course (6A-A0158) for the Amedd [Army Medical Department] Center and School and US Army Trauma Training Center in Miami Fl,” it says. “This requirement is being conducted as a commercial item acquisition…”
The service is apparently seeking 30 human legs – “Cadavers need to be at least from the Hemi pelvis to toe” – and 30 human arms – “Arm Specimen need to be from shoulder to finger tips” to train military doctors to deal with horrific leg-and-arm-threatening wounds caused by IEDs seen first in Iraq and now in Afghanistan. U.S. troops have suffered close to 1,600 amputations in the post-9/11 wars.
It’s tough to read about. But then again, without such training, stories like this wouldn’t be possible.