Culture of Violence

EXCELLENT ARTICLE!!
I really did enjoy your article--Very well done.
You have my admiration, working in that part of the world.

Nice job, Gila. Stay safe...

WOW.

This story had the impact of a punch to the solar plexus on me. My son Chris is headed to A-stan in the spring, and I can all too easily imagine him in a similar situation. I'm terrified for his safety but know I have to trust the Lord to protect him, and to give me the strength to go on should something like this happen to him.

Well-written, haunting, gritty...........thank you for sharing this, Gila.

Thank you for sharing your job with us and giving us a glimpse at a world most of us can't even imagine. Stay safe.

Let me tell you a story about the obligations of being both a medic and a soldier in the US. Army

Besides being a RN in a ICU and a new FNP graduate, I am also a medic in the army. I have had two combat tours. I used to jump out of airplanes and I was also a flight medic. Most of my military career has been with special operations and light infantry units. I love what I do.

During the war, we were doing a recon mission via convoy. Nothing glamourous or anything like that. 5 day trip, not a big deal. I was assigned to one of the humvees. Me my gear and my medical gear. A field medic has to really know what to pack for a mission and what to leave behind. There really is no set packing list. You can only anticipate so much. A Captain is in the front passenger seat. He wants to know when I will be mouting the 50 cal machine gun. I explain to him that under Geneva Conventions, a medic can not use a weapons system that is not defensive or if a mission is not defensive. Only for defense. It really is a fine line. 1. I have never been properly checked off on the 50 cal., yes I know how to load and shot it, but I am not means an expert. 2. If we do engage the enemy, and I am on top with the weapon, I have to shoot to kill, a 50 cal does that to people and vehicles. 3. I would be obligated to treat the injured, both friendly and foe.. I take number 3 very seriously, after the fighting is done, a human is a human and it is my duty to save life.

After repeatedly telling this CPT that it is a violation of GC if I mount the 50 cal. he said ok. Our mission was not defensive, if we had a 50 cal and I was told that i had to guard the perimeter, then legally that is within my bounds of duty.

I personally cant believe that this man was going to have the only medic as a shooter. He let it go, but if needed, I would have gone to the LTC who was in charge of the recon. It did not come to that. No one likes a whiner in the military, but people have to know the rules.

A great story - thanks for sharing it.

I work for a large hospital in a large U.S. city, currently in a non-medical support role, but am studying to be a nurse. You could say that a "culture of violence" exists around us here too actually. We've received training and instructions on what to do in the event of gang shootings where a gang member will be brought in by his "homies" only to have a rival gang member with gunshot wounds by brought in by his people. So when I become a nurse, it will be with my eyes wide open, knowing that in many cases this is what I will have to be dealing with. Our hospital is located now in what could be called a "bad area" of town (wasn't always that way), and some nights our ER and trauma areas are very busy. I look at our hospital as an oasis of healing and compassion in a surrounding world of craziness and increasing violence.