LANDSTUHL, Germany — Stateside neurosurgeons are doing what they can to support injured troops by volunteering their time and highly specialized skills at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

The volunteer program began last December and was necessitated by a neurosurgeon shortage in the military. The idea originated in October 2004 after Col. Kory Cornum, commander of the 435th Medical Squadron at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, gave a briefing to senior Air Force medical leaders.

He asked the leaders if they could spare a neurosurgeon. Four active-duty Air Force neurosurgeons had helped at Landstuhl, but an empty spot in the rotation was coming.

After the meeting, reserve and guard generals among the senior medical leaders asked Cornum if he would take a civilian neurosurgeon.

“I said, ‘I’m sure we can figure out a way to do it,’” Cornum said.

And so the program began. To date, eight civilian neurosurgeons have volunteered at Landstuhl.

Last year, about 200 troops with injuries requiring neurosurgery were sent to the Landstuhl intensive care unit. Most of the injuries came from shrapnel fragments or gunshots, Cornum said.

“We have numerous injured folks from downrange come here who need acute neurosurgical care,” he said. “A lot of times their operation has been done in-theater, but they need a neurosurgeon to manage them in the intensive care unit for the day or two or three while they’re here.”

The volunteer doctors have their plane ticket, lodging and meals covered during their stay, which normally runs two weeks, Cornum said.

The civilian doctors not only leave their families behind, they also leave their highly paying practices for long stretches.

“Four of the eight, when I have taken them back to the airport, told me they have never been away from their private practice this long, and that would include the doctor who was here for 10 days,” Cornum said.

The physicians told Cornum that they were proud to contribute.

The most recent volunteer is Dr. Howard Morgan, a professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Morgan spent two and a half weeks in early April volunteering at Landstuhl. During his stint, Morgan, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, performed a few surgeries and provided neurological critical care to troops who underwent surgery downrange.

“It’s a matter of duty,” Morgan said. “It was a small thing I could do for the country, so to speak, and the young people hurt over there.”

Since his return, Morgan has corresponded with other neurosurgeons who have expressed interest in the program.

Currently, a reservist neurosurgeon is filling the role at Landstuhl, but Cornum is working to get a volunteer lined up for June.

Now that Morgan is home from his experience volunteering at Landstuhl, he has had time to think about the sacrifices troops are making downrange.

“It seems like the little that I did was the least I could do,” he said.

Unit empty of patients for 8 hours

For eight hours in late April, all was quiet at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit.

The unit had no patients for the first time since March 2003 when Operation Iraqi Freedom began.

“In at least two years, it was the first time that our intensive care unit was empty,” said Col. Kory Cornum, commander of the 435th Medical Squadron at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. “It was only empty about eight hours, but it was empty.”

During the lull, people visited the unit to just see it for themselves. Although the break was temporary, it hinted at a positive trend.

“I think it kind of solidified in our minds that things are actually improving downrange,” Cornum said.

Casualty flow has declined steadily since November. In March, Landstuhl saw its fewest number of patients in two years, Cornum said during a mid-May interview.

— Steve Mraz