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JALALABAD AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — When a man with blood-soaked hands emerged from a small shop in the Nishgam bazaar in northeastern Afghanistan in mid-March and approached a troop of Soldiers he had one request for their medic—to save a baby's life.
Soldiers from Charlie Troop, 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, were on patrol through the bazaar to show a presence in the area when a local Afghan nurse burst into the street seeking help from the American Soldiers.
"I wasn't sure what he wanted at first," Army Spc. Anthony Janda, C Troop medic from Buffalo, N.Y., said, "but I followed him into the little shop. Inside there was an 8-year-old boy holding a baby who was wrapped in gauze and had blood all over him."
The baby was victim to a circumcision that went wrong in a village across the border in Pakistan and was brought to the nurse to help, but his knowledge and supplies were limited and the baby was in shock. Janda knew immediately the injury was serious judging by the amount of blood on the floor.
Acting quickly, the medic began to remove the gauze from the child and for the first time realized just how bad the injury was.
"When I started to pull the gauze away blood squirted at me," Janda said. "I didn't really think about it at that point. It was all instinctive."
He had never worked on a baby and was not trained in any medical techniques to save babies, but Janda, a father of a 3-year-old, knew he had to save the child.
He tried to control the bleeding by applying gauze to the wound. While he was doing this, he sent another Soldier back to get his non-commissioned officer in charge, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jimmy Carswell from Dexter, Ga., so he could request an evacuation. However, before the senior non-commissioned officer arrived the baby's heart stopped beating.
"I've never done CPR on a baby before," Janda said. "Normally I just work on the guys, making sure they are healthy and mission capable. This was completely new."
He performed CPR on the baby and in a couple minutes detected a pulse, but the baby still wasn't out of the water. The child had lost a lot of blood and the medic had none to replenish his supply.
The medic and Carswell, who had arrived and was working on getting the baby evacuated, decided to try an IV solution called HEXTAND, which adheres to blood cells and adds more volume to the blood supply.
Janda found a small needle in his aid bag and found the baby's tiny vein on the first attempt, but when doing so the baby's heart stopped beating again, and again he managed to bring the baby back with CPR.
The baby wouldn't make it if they didn't get him to surgery so Carswell ran out into the street to hire a cab.
"I found a local and had our interpreter get him to find a cab," Carswell said. "It's a 30 minute drive, but it was the only way to get him back to the [forward operating base]."
Before the cab arrived the baby's heart stopped a third time and again Janda brought him back.
When the child was stable again the nurse from the shop went along with him on the rough, gravel roads to FOB Bostick. The intravenous solution was working by the time they arrived and the baby was responsive and crying.
With the help of a large medical team and a pediatrician on the phone they managed to stitch up the baby and save him.
"The cut was deep," said Army Sgt. Shay Wilson, Forward Operating Base Bostick's Aid Station non-commissioned officer in charge from Chicago, Ill. "When the surgery was performed, just over the border in Pakistan, the surgeon, or whoever did the surgery, cut too deep. The baby lost a lot of blood, but Janda did the right things to stabilize him and get him to us."
After the baby and nurse left the bazaar, Janda and the others went back to work without knowing the baby's fate.
"I had a heavy heart," Janda said. "I was really worried about the kid and wasn't really talking to any of the guys. I was depressed because I really didn't know if he was going to make it."
Several hours later the word was passed to the troop that the baby had survived and was doing fine. The entire troop breathed a sigh of relief and gained even more confidence in their medic.
"To have a medic of that caliber with you is priceless," said Army Staff Sgt. Eric Winn, C Troop squad leader from Colorado City, Texas. "Knowing you have a medic that good with you when you go out lets you focus more on the mission at hand. I wouldn't want anyone else working on me out there."
Janda and his team have visited the baby since saving his life and he has recovered and is doing well.
"It was great to see him healthy," Janda said. "I'm just happy I was able to figure out the right things to do, and am happy he gets to live a healthy life."
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2009 09:23 |
| Story ID: | 32890 |
| Location: | JALALABAD AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,315 |
| Downloads: | 1,152 |
This work, 6-4 medic saves baby's life in bazaar, by SSG David Hopkins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
