Photos

Speed is essential for corpsmen like Seamen Jeffrey Mikesell, who rushes into an emergency room April 13, 2006 as he and other Naval medical personnel treat wounded service members at Camp Taqaddum?s main surgical facility. The service members were injured in a recent insurgent attack in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. Mikesell, a 19-year-old corpsman from Capolei, Hawaii, and the other sailors of Taqaddum Surgical handle the duties of both a shock trauma platoon and a forward resuscitative surgical suite, which are essentially makeshift emergency and operating rooms. When a service member is injured in battle in the Al Anbar Province, he receives specialized resuscitative treatment from the STP, with surgery provided by the FRSS. More extensive care is provided at one of the Combat Army Surgical Hospitals in Baghdad or Balad.