thedrifter
11-13-08, 08:12 AM
Posted on Wed, Nov. 12, 2008
UCLA program helps mend injured soldiers’ lives
By TONY PERRY
The Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES | Marines and soldiers who suffered disfiguring injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving advanced plastic and reconstructive surgery at UCLA Medical Center.
So far, under the partnership between the center and the military’s top hospital for burn victims, five Marines and four soldiers have undergone surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles.
One was injured in Afghanistan, the others in Iraq. More patients are scheduled to arrive in coming weeks.
Military brass, UCLA officials and philanthropist Ronald Katz have discussed expanding the program to include other medical specialties and hospitals. Katz has donated about $1 million to the program, called Operation Mend, and helped to raise more than $10 million.
The goal is to provide advanced treatment for military personnel who have undergone surgery and rehabilitation at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, a world leader in the treatment of burn victims.
Bringing the hospitals’ two bureaucracies together hasn’t always been easy, but officials on both sides say it has been worth it.
Three generals — one Marine, two Army — visited UCLA recently to meet with doctors and talk about a possible expansion of the program.
“There’s exciting potential,” said Amir Rubin, chief operating officer of the UCLA Hospital System.
One of the UCLA patients is Marine Gunnery Sgt. Blaine Scott, 35, who was burned over 36 percent of his body when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb that killed three fellow Marines in Iraq’s al-Anbar province on Aug. 20, 2006.
Scott’s arms and legs were burned. The bones in his left foot protruded sideways. His nose had been virtually sheared off, and his head, ears and face were scorched, leaving deep scars.
When he regained consciousness at Brooke, his wife, Lilly, was by his side, “nine months pregnant, pushing me in a wheelchair,” Scott said. They have two children: Isabella, 5, and Blaine, now 2.
Scott spent 18 months at Brooke and is now assigned to Camp Pendleton, in the San Diego area, as an instructor in the urban-combat program.
At UCLA, Timothy Miller, a professor and chief of plastic surgery, operated on him.
Burn injuries from combat are particularly damaging, Miller said, because they usually are associated with bomb blasts and intense heat.
When he was fresh out of medical school, Miller spent two years as an Army doctor — first at Brooke and then in Vietnam.
He jumped at the chance to treat military personnel under Operation Mend.
“They’ve given a tremendous amount of their lives to me and my family,” Miller said. “If I can give something back to them, it’s very gratifying.”
Brig. Gen. James Gilman, commanding general of Brooke Med Center, said Mend is a way to expand care for those most severely burned.
“In general, the military does not have as part of its core competency really, really good facial reconstructive surgeries,” he said. “To get a chance to work with world-class surgeons like Dr. Miller and his colleagues is tremendous.”
Scott wants to spread the word to fellow burn victims: “I’m calling my buddies back at San Antonio and telling them, ‘Hey, check this out.’ ”
Ellie
UCLA program helps mend injured soldiers’ lives
By TONY PERRY
The Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES | Marines and soldiers who suffered disfiguring injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving advanced plastic and reconstructive surgery at UCLA Medical Center.
So far, under the partnership between the center and the military’s top hospital for burn victims, five Marines and four soldiers have undergone surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles.
One was injured in Afghanistan, the others in Iraq. More patients are scheduled to arrive in coming weeks.
Military brass, UCLA officials and philanthropist Ronald Katz have discussed expanding the program to include other medical specialties and hospitals. Katz has donated about $1 million to the program, called Operation Mend, and helped to raise more than $10 million.
The goal is to provide advanced treatment for military personnel who have undergone surgery and rehabilitation at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, a world leader in the treatment of burn victims.
Bringing the hospitals’ two bureaucracies together hasn’t always been easy, but officials on both sides say it has been worth it.
Three generals — one Marine, two Army — visited UCLA recently to meet with doctors and talk about a possible expansion of the program.
“There’s exciting potential,” said Amir Rubin, chief operating officer of the UCLA Hospital System.
One of the UCLA patients is Marine Gunnery Sgt. Blaine Scott, 35, who was burned over 36 percent of his body when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb that killed three fellow Marines in Iraq’s al-Anbar province on Aug. 20, 2006.
Scott’s arms and legs were burned. The bones in his left foot protruded sideways. His nose had been virtually sheared off, and his head, ears and face were scorched, leaving deep scars.
When he regained consciousness at Brooke, his wife, Lilly, was by his side, “nine months pregnant, pushing me in a wheelchair,” Scott said. They have two children: Isabella, 5, and Blaine, now 2.
Scott spent 18 months at Brooke and is now assigned to Camp Pendleton, in the San Diego area, as an instructor in the urban-combat program.
At UCLA, Timothy Miller, a professor and chief of plastic surgery, operated on him.
Burn injuries from combat are particularly damaging, Miller said, because they usually are associated with bomb blasts and intense heat.
When he was fresh out of medical school, Miller spent two years as an Army doctor — first at Brooke and then in Vietnam.
He jumped at the chance to treat military personnel under Operation Mend.
“They’ve given a tremendous amount of their lives to me and my family,” Miller said. “If I can give something back to them, it’s very gratifying.”
Brig. Gen. James Gilman, commanding general of Brooke Med Center, said Mend is a way to expand care for those most severely burned.
“In general, the military does not have as part of its core competency really, really good facial reconstructive surgeries,” he said. “To get a chance to work with world-class surgeons like Dr. Miller and his colleagues is tremendous.”
Scott wants to spread the word to fellow burn victims: “I’m calling my buddies back at San Antonio and telling them, ‘Hey, check this out.’ ”
Ellie