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This day a VIP trip to Chu Lai. It was cold,
raining and windy. This is the coastline very close to the LZ we
were using which was collocated with the Army's medical receiving facility
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Photo by, Maj. F. A. Gulledge |
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1stLt. James "Reverend" Galbraith, my copilot, and
Sgt. William N. "Pappy" Hill our crew chief. Note the extra soundproofing,
the airliner type seats and the fact that the bird actually had windows
in it!
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Photo by, Maj. F. A. Gulledge |
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As we waited patiently for the return of our VIP,
this "Dust Off" brought a seriously wounded Vietnamese lady to the medical
facility.
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Photo by, Maj. F. A. Gulledge |
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I asked for, and was granted, permission to enter the triage section which is where the seriousness of the wounds are determined. I was shocked to see the floors were dirty, the patient's litter was simply placed on two saw horses where she continued to lay in mud and blood, and the lighting was poor except directly over the patient. |
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More medical personnel arrived and proceeded to remove the blanket which covered the lady and cut her clothing from her. They then commenced to probe the holes in her body with rubber gloved fingers. I am told this was to determine the direction the projectiles had entered the body and which wounds would require attention first. |
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After a few moments it sunk into my thick skull that their exploratory probing made sense. They needed to find out quickly the seriousness of the lady's wounds. The possibility of immediate surgery, or simply stabilize her for now and take care of someone else in the operating room, with extremely life threatening wounds. |