Military medical team sets new standard of care in wartime Published Nov. 13, 2009 By Linda Frost 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Before a crowd of thousands on Veterans Day, Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Tom Travis, 59th Medical Wing commander, paid tribute to the military medical corps during a pre-parade ceremony in Dallas, Texas. The theme of the Dallas 12th annual Veterans Day Parade was Saluting the Military Medical Corps, and included more than 100 units from military and school bands, Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, veterans and other military organizations. General Travis was the keynote military speaker and also administered the oath of office for more than 100 enlistees in the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard during a special enlistment ceremony prior to the start of the parade. In his remarks, General Travis said joint military medical teams operate closer to the front lines than ever before and provide warfighters advanced medical care within minutes. "To keep the trust of this nation's sons and daughters who serve in war, and their moms, dads, and loved ones at home, we must provide the best possible care to those in harm's way," he said. The general explained that every warrior on the battlefield is trained to provide aid immediately, and then the Army medics and Navy corpsmen take over and move the wounded to the forward surgical teams. From that point, the wounded are moved to a combat support hospital or Air Force theater hospital for possible further surgery. General Travis said once a patient is stabilized, an Air Force critical care air transport team, which provides an intensive care unit capability in the air, moves the patient to the United States. "It is an amazing system, where an injured Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine who is wounded on one day, after perhaps multiple surgeries along the way, wakes up for the first time in the U.S. in as little as three days with mom and dad or spouse at the bedside so the healing can truly begin," he said. The system is working well and has set a new standard of care during wartime. General Travis said since 2004, more than 27,000 surgeries have been performed in theater hospitals at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanistan. "We have the lowest died of wounds rate in history, and the highest survival rate in history once you reached the first level of care, on the order of 98 percent. And we have moved more than 66,000 patients out of theater during this long war, more than 12,000 of those wounded in battle." "I am proud of our military medics, the thousands of men and women who have deployed during this war, and all previous wars, to provide that care and fulfill that sacred promise," he said. In recognizing the theme, the parade's grand marshal was Lt. Col. (Dr.) Jerrold Grodin, Army Reserve Medical Corps. Colonel Grodin joined the Army Reserve after 9-11 at the age of 52. He served several tours in Iraq and some of the medical care he provided was under direct enemy fire wearing full battle dress. Other special guests included Ross Perot and several congressmen and state representatives from Texas. A wreath-laying ceremony, playing of Taps and a fly-over were also part of the patriotic ceremony preceding the parade. "We salute the medical professionals of all of the services, the doctors, nurses, medics, corpsmen, technicians, hospital staffs, and all of the others who treat and care for our wounded warriors, until they are able to be returned to their loved ones," said retired Army Lt. Col. Don Munson, parade chairman.