To save a life

[thedrifter]

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (July 14, 2008) — His face was distraught with nothing but fear and shock as Marines and sailors lowered him to the floor of Camp Taqaddum Surgical. He found himself in a strange place around a number of people he could not understand. Despite all the chaos, Navy Cmdr. Pamela Harvey, who was serving in Iraq as an emergency room physician at the time, knew that this man’s life laid in her hands.

Her patient, an older Iraqi civilian, probably never imagined he would end up where he did Feb. 24, 2007. He had only recently left a religious service when a suicide truck bomb exploded near the mosque in Al Habbiniyah, Iraq, severely injuring himself and a number of Iraqi civilians.

Harvey did not expect this to happen either. She did not anticipate having this man’s life placed into her hands that morning. Nonetheless, she was ready, as this was what she had always lived for…to save lives.

Only an hour had gone by when TQ Surgical had opened its doors to the victims. Initially, Harvey said the situation seemed routine. That description soon changed.

She said that while they treated the various victims, a corpsman noticed an Iraqi man’s vitals becoming unstable. She said he was bleeding from behind one of his eyes, applying pressure to his brain. At that moment, she knew she was quickly running out of time.

She explained that his injury was something doctors didn’t often see. She added that if they didn’t perform surgery immediately, he not only would’ve lost his eye, but his life as well. So she went to work right there on the floor of TQ Surgical.

“The opportunity to actually save somebody’s life … there’s no feeling quite like it,” Harvey said. “We were able to help (that Iraqi civilian), and he was able to go back to his family and the people who needed him.”

“I’m just grateful that I’ve been put in a position in my life to be able to do that for people,” she added. “Knowing that I’ve impacted somebody’s life that way is better than any paycheck.”

These seemingly horrifying unknowns and joyous outcomes have always been a big part of Harvey’s career. But this is not that surprising when you consider that she was only 16 years old when faced with saving a young child’s life.

Harvey knew her life was about to change forever when she heard “the infamous screeching of the tires” outside of the Muscatine, Iowa General Hospital E.R., where she worked as a nursing assistant tasked with answering phones. She knew that nothing good was ever on the other end of the screeching tires, and this case was no different.

“A man came running in the door with a four-year-old boy that was dripping wet and limp in his arms,” she still remembers. “He handed him to me in sheer panic and said ‘I found my son in the swimming pool.’ He had nothing other than sheer terror on his face, and he just handed him to me in my arms.”

“That little boy lived.” she said. “It was a young point in my life to get handed a child, who was at that point near gone. I think I knew from that point forward that I would be OK with whatever I chose to do in the healthcare field. If I survived that situation, if I survived that day, I thought I would be OK.”

And she was. The Muscatine native continued on to achieve her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Iowa. She then became a Navy Nurse Corps Reserve Officer, and later achieved her master’s in healthcare administration and her doctorate in medicine, both from Des Moines University in Iowa.

Harvey’s former biochemistry and microbiology professor, Dr. Tom Mueller, who currently serves as the associate dean of admissions and student affairs at the Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, remembers Harvey as a vibrant and enthusiastic person when it came to studying medicine. Having been her professor for three consecutive years, he said her future always looked bright.

Mueller applauded Harvey for her decision to join the military after graduating, stating that out of the average 200 graduates a year, approximately 15 to 20 choose to join the military to practice medicine. He said without these men and women, the U.S. military would be at a loss.

“They choose to serve because they want to,” Mueller said. “Without the willingness of these people to serve, (the military) would not be able to carry out their missions as well.”

The medical officer of the Marine Corps, Navy Rear Adm. William Roberts, agrees. He said the Navy’s medical professionals provide a service to the Department of the Navy that “guarantees the best possible medical or surgical outcome for any Marine or sailor who may come in harm’s way.”

Roberts said Harvey is a prime example of the high-quality medical professionals the Marine Corps and the Navy look for. He said sailors like herself are critical to the success of the Fleet Marine Force.

“Cmdr. Harvey is a ‘poster officer’ in terms of commitment, military experience, trustworthiness and clinical competence,” Roberts said. “Cmdr. Harvey and her team are there for Marines and sailors in their time of need and serve not only to save life and limb, but also as a force multiplier by keeping warriors healthy and in the fight.”

Roberts said that there is an obvious difference that distinguishes Navy medical practitioners from their civilian counterparts, which is the purity of practice.

“A Navy doctor never needs to be concerned about his or her patients’ ability to pay, and can universally keep the patient at the center of his or her universe,” Roberts said. “I have no doubt that Cmdr. Harvey and the overwhelming majority of the over 40,000 Navy medical professionals would agree.”

Harvey has never experienced regrets when it comes to her life-long dedication to medicine and her choice to serve her country in the same capacity. She has always looked back at life and felt that it was all worth it.

“I know that my time in the military will have been, in all likelihood, the most personally and professionally rewarding years of my life,” Harvey said. “My experiences with the Marine Corps, both here in garrison and deployed, can’t compare to anything in the civilian world. You can’t replicate that experience.”

“Just like coming into medicine was a calling for me, wearing this uniform was a calling for me,” Harvey added. “The years I’ve been doing this, specifically in direct support of the Marine Corps, changed my life both personally and professionally forever.”

Harvey plans to continue to selflessly serve her country for years to come. Eventually, she plans to return to the small town of Muscatine where she will have a chance to enjoy life’s simple pleasures, while continuing to practice medicine and helping those around her.