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Britain Opens New Trauma Research Center

   Jennifer Glasse | Birmingham, England  February 07, 2011
   Car  crash  survivor  Dawn  Pickett, who had both of her arms and legs
   shattered  seven  years ago, does her rehab after doctors were able to
   save  her  limbs,  thanks  to  experience  from  Afghanistan and Iraq,
   February 2011

Photo: VOA

   Car  crash  survivor  Dawn  Pickett, who had both of her arms and legs
   shattered  seven  years ago, does her rehab after doctors were able to
   save  her  limbs,  thanks  to  experience  from  Afghanistan and Iraq,
   February 2011

   Britainâs  military  doctors  have  pioneered  new  techniques to save
   soldiers  gravely  wounded  in  Afghanistan  and Iraq. Now the lessons
   learned  will  be  brought  together  in  a  new  research center at a
   hospital  in  the  British  city  of  Birmingham.  The center hopes to
   benefit both wounded soldiers and civilians.
   A  British  soldier  wounded  in Afghanistan recovers in a hospital in
   Birmingham,  in  central England. Treating traumatic injuries like his
   has changed the face of hospital care in Britain
   A  car  crash seven years ago left Dawn Pickett fighting for her life,
   both  arms  and  legs  shattered. Doctors were able to save her limbs,
   thanks to experience from Afghanistan and Iraq.

   âIâve  benefited  from  what theyâve learned out there," said Pickett.
   "And  now that information, those techniques will then be able to pass
   it on to anybody, civilians or military.â
   Dr.  Keith  Porter, who supervised Pickettâs care, said, âMany changes
   have resulted from the experience in Iraq and Afghanistan.â
   So  Britainâs  health  and  defense ministries are opening a new joint
   trauma  research  center  to capitalize on what medical personnel have
   learned on the battlefield. In Afghanistan, gunshot and blast injuries
   are  the  most common. Military doctors say survival rates for British
   soldiers  in  Afghanistan  can  be  better  than for civilians here in
   Britain. Â
   âOver  the  last  decade  we  have  seen  patients  survive  wounds of
   escalating  magnitude  and  these are not wounds that you would see in
   normal civilian practice,â said Porter.
   Quick  reaction  times,  stopping  bleeding  quickly and stabilizing a
   patient  in the field are all credited with saving soldiers. The Queen
   Elizabeth  Hospital  in  Birmingham  is  the  first stopping point for
   wounded  forces.  The  nurses  in green are in the military - and work
   side by side with civilians here.
   Britainâs  chief  medical  officer,  Dr. Sally Davies, said both sides
   have  things to teach. âWeâve already learned from the military how to
   use  tourniquets again in the civilian trauma situation to save lives.
   So thereâs cross learning and thereâs research already started.â Â
   Davies  said  in  emergency situations doctors already take a military
   approach,  and  she  hopes  the  new collaboration will better prepare
   Britain if there is another terrorist attack, like the 2005 subway and
   bus bombings.
   And  Britainâs  top  military  doctor  said  the  center  is  just the
   beginning.
   âAs  this  is the UKâs first and only trauma center for research, itâs
   going  to be the catalyst for a much wider network,â said Vice Admiral
   Philip Raffaelli, British Forces Surgeon General.
   Just  as  the  soldiers work together in Afghanistan, Britain hopes to
   share  its  research  with  the  United  States, Canada and other NATO
   allies.
   The  new  research  facility aims to solidify the already longstanding
   medical  cooperation  between  the military and civilians here with an
   aim to creating new procedures to save more lives.

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