Subscribe Feed50 graduate Fatima Girls High School
Tabasum Sharqi (left) opens a book she received for graduating at the top of her Fatima Girls High School class at a ceremony held at the Kunar Department of Women’s (click for more)
Polish and US Forces bond through weapons
Soldiers from the Polish Army and the Texas National Guard Agribusiness Development Team-IV check their shot grouping during qualification on the Polish AK-74 5.56 mm Mini-Beryl short assault rifle Feb. (click for more)
TF Duke Soldiers volley for peace
U.S. Army Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, play an impromptu game of volleyball against a team (click for more)
Nurgaram District leaders electrify Nangaresh schools
Dr. Mehirulla Muslim, the Nurgaram District subgovernor, addresses an audience of teachers, government officials and citizens during a ceremony to celebrate a completed solar panel electricity project Feb. 21 in (click for more)
10th CAB Soldiers bring communications to Bagram’s east side
U.S. Army Spc. Raheem Stewart, an automations specialist with TF Phoenix, steps along the rafters of the building his team helped wire for communications. Stewart, from Dallas, was one of (click for more)
ANA, Red Bulls search Parwai during Operation Brass Monkey
An Afghan National Army soldier from Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 201st Infantry Regiment, searches a pile of rocks in the courtyard of a high-value target home outside the village of (click for more)
Female engagement teams trained to aid communication with Afghan women
U.S. Army Capt. Nicole Zupka of Fair Lawn, N.J., a battlewatch captain with Combined Joint Task Force-Paladin, helps an Afghan child with her writing skills during female engagement team training (click for more)
ANA, TF Storm break trail, make difference in Kharwar
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Afghan National Army soldiers move through Kharwar District to prevent the Taliban’s freedom of movement Feb. 12. U.S. and Afghan soldiers braved more than 3 feet (click for more)
Ky. ADT II begins Panjshir sheep parasite project
Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team II members, U.S. Army Spc. Justin Allen (left), a London, Ky., native, and U.S. Army Sgt. Nicholas Combs, a Corbin, Ky., native, get to know a (click for more)
Engineer Soldiers deliver aid to Afghans
An Afghan carrying a child approaches U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Peter Moeller of Atkins, Iowa, a medic with Task Force Red Bulls, for humanitarian aid at Qale-Mussa Pain Middle School (click for more)
PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Medics from Company A, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Lethal, at Combat Outpost Herrera, Paktya Province, helped care for and evacuate a Jaji Village boy, Jan. 29, who fell more than 15 feet from a building and landed on his head.
The boy was brought in stable condition to the aid station the day before with swelling in his neck that interfered with his ability to control his arms.
After assessing that the boy’s injuries posed a risk to his limbs and possibly life, U.S. Army Sgt. John Edwards of Washington, Iowa, the senior medic at COP Herrera, decided to see the boy after the child had already been seen physicians at the Jaji District Hospital. The doctors there did not have the capability or equipment to properly help the boy.
“If (a patient) has not been seen at the Jaji District Hospital, (normally) we don't allow them onto the COP,” said Edwards, explaining the medical rules of engagement for U.S. Army medical personnel. Those rules state coalition forces are not to treat Afghans unless the injury threatens life, limb or eyesight.
Edwards’ actions may have saved the boy from permanent loss of mobility in his arms and even his life.
When word was relayed to Edwards and his team that no air evacuation assets were available due to inclement weather, they realized they were in for a struggle to keep the boy’s vital signs stable until advanced care became available.
They tended the boy through the night, regularly checking his pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure and ability to move his arms.
Medics even played games with the boy, putting on a puppet show and encouraging him to use his hands and arms to grip a ball. After midnight the boy started to show small signs of improvement.
“He started to get some fine motor function of his left arm,” said Edwards.
But the boy was still far from recovered.
Edwards noted the boy’s arm “pretty much just stayed lying in the same position unless we got him to move it, even then it looked like it took a lot of effort and concentration to do so.”
After daybreak Jan. 29, Edwards and Afghan Uniformed Police Col. Shenwary coordinated to have the Jaji Hospital use their ambulance service to transport the child to a hospital in Gardez City.
“When the ambulance arrived, we put him on the spine board and secured him for the trip down to Gardez,” said Edwards.
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Press Releases
| ADT launches several Ghazni projects |
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GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Task Force White Eagle Texas Agribusiness Development Team IV attended a ground breaking ceremony hosted by Ghazni Deputy sub-Gov. Mohammad Ali Ahmadi at the Ghazni Governor’s compound April 27. |
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| TF Dolch launches UAV in Logar Province |
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| Coalition forces engage insurgents in Kapisa |
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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Coalition forces killed seven insurgents in defensive operations in the Alah Say District, Kapisa Province, eastern Afghanistan, March 29. |
| ANSF, ISAF begin major operation in Laghman valley |
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LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The Afghan National Security Forces, partnered with U.S. Task Forces Red Bulls and Phoenix and French Task Force La Fayette, began operations in Galuch Valley, Laghman Province, March 25. |