The enemy within

Sunday 13 December 2009

Thankfully, the clinical pace at the hospital has slowed down quite a bit. There are, however, quite a few “enemies of peace” that are being cared for in our medical facility. “Enemies of peace” is the new, politically correct term for the forces that fight against the Afghan government and Coalition Forces. Personally, I consider constipation to be an “enemy of peace.” These guys are something different. It is interesting to look into their eyes and know that prior to receiving world class medical care in our hospital, they were trying to kill our friends and peers. Most people, fortunately, rarely get to see that look. Well, except maybe for the resident a few years back who claimed during a quarterly review session that I sometimes “looked like I wanted to kill the residents.” Totally untrue. Maybe just hurt them a little. If any residents or members of the Residency Review Committee are reading this, that was totally a joke- an effort to instill comic relief into a piece that I should probably not have posted.

It’s no secret that we provide medical care not only to our friends and allies, but also to enemy forces that are injured in combat. It is, however, an incredible thing that our medical personnel really do deliver the same quality of care to our enemies that we do to our own forces, without hesitation or resentment. I was recently up on the roof of the hospital discussing the matter with a trauma surgeon and he mentioned that he had just finished a pretty amazing and complex surgery on an injured “enemy of peace.” He said, “It’s funny, I’ve done some of my best work on these guys.” At least that’s what I think he said, since we were conversing through gaps between our neck gators and fleece caps that were exactly the diameter of a cigar. The truth is, they really do get our very best.