With 10 hospitals in Europe,
military is ready to treat casualties
By Kent Harris, Stars
and Stripes
News reports every day focus on a buildup of U.S. forces in the Middle East. Who’s
going? What are they doing? Where are they going?
The U.S. military, understandably, has been very guarded about providing such
information to the public. Such details could jeopardize U.S. troops or the operations
they’re carrying out.
But if there are attacks, there also is the possibility of U.S. casualties. And the
closest extensive medical treatment for those potential casualties is in Europe.
The U.S. military operates 10 hospitals throughout Europe and fields thousands of
medical personnel who could be called upon if wounded troops need treatment.
So far, though, it’s business as usual at those facilities.
"Nothing has changed," said Maj. Ed Loomis, a U.S. European Command
spokesman.
That means treating patients for minor ailments at regularly scheduled appointments or
performing life-saving surgeries after car accidents. That’s not to say that there
hasn’t been any contingency planning. Or that facilities couldn’t handle a
limited number of casualties immediately.
"If hostilities break out, we do have to be prepared for that," said Roger
Teel, a spokesman for the Army’s hospital in Würzburg, Germany.
Air Force Lt. Col. Jeff Bryan, the deputy command surgeon for EUCOM, said hospitals
have to be ready for large numbers of casualties at all times. Earthquakes, fires or train
wrecks could happen at any time.
Marie Shaw, spokeswoman for Landstuhl Medical Center, points to last week’s
explosion at a chemical plant in Toulouse, France, where 29 people were killed and 411
hospitalized.
"Something that like that could happen every day and we have to be prepared,"
she said.
That doesn’t mean, however, that military hospitals in Europe are gearing up to
handle huge numbers of casualties like they did for the Gulf War. In fact, Loomis is quick
to say that making such comparisons "might not be appropriate."
During the Gulf War, Land-stuhl increased its capacity to house about 1,000 patients.
That took about five months to plan and implement, Shaw said.
"We knew we were sending a lot of people to the Gulf," she said.
Landstuhl is the largest military hospital in Europe and has had roles in treating
injured troops and civilians alike from such places as Bosnia and Kosovo, and bombed U.S.
embassies in Africa. It also cared for the crew of the USS Cole that was attacked by
terrorists while in port in Yemen.
With a current capacity of about 150 beds, its proximity to Ramstein Air Base and its
larger facilities and staff, it would likely bear a heavy burden of treating wounded
troops. In the past, Landstuhl has often served as a stopover. Patients are stabilized and
treated before traveling on to facilities in the States.
If Landstuhl is needed in that capacity, other facilities like the Army’s
hospitals in Heidelberg or Würzburg, the next largest hospitals in Europe at 50-60 beds
each, could handle some of Landstuhl’s normal patient load or possible incoming
spillover.
"We move patients every day and there’s a very well established system in
place," Bryant said.
Smaller Air Force facilities at RAF Lakenheath in England, Bitburg in Germany, Incirlik
Air Base in Turkey or Aviano Air Base’s hospital in Sacile can house between 17 to 35
patients, Bryant said. Navy facilities in Rota, Spain; Sigonella, Sicily; and Naples,
Italy; are of similar size.
While all those facilities can’t easily be deployed, there are medical assets in
Europe that can be. Ramstein’s 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and 75th Airlift
Squadron have played prominent roles in taking wounded out of affected spots on C-9
transport planes and bringing them to Landstuhl.
Würzburg also has a combat support hospital, similar to those made famous by the
television series, "M*A*S*H*." With equipment shipped by rail, the unit was the
first to set up shop in Kosovo after U.S. troops entered the province.
"The core element of this hospital is ready to do that with a day’s
notice," Teel said.
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