Abstract
THE limited but valuable experience which has been obtained of the feat of taking a surgical team into action with airborne troops is described by two R.A.M.C. surgeons who have organized it, Mr. C. J. Longland and Mr. L. Kessel (The Lancet, March 18, 1944, p. 381). Their article has been written "to correct the hyperbole and inaccuracy of accounts which have appeared in the lay press". Such surgical teams have been in action twice. On the first occasion it was proved that the feat could be done; the second job was a difficult one, but the team successfully established itself at night in a farm building behind the enemy's lines while a battle was going on near by. Some of the thirty-five operations performed were done 1½ hours after the wounds were received, and four fifths of them were done within five hours of the wounding. The team consisted of a surgeon, an anæsthetist and five other ranks, one of whom was responsible for resuscitation and two were chosen for their nursing abilities. All were, however, trained in all phases of the work. The team also had field and parachute training.
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The Airborne Surgical Unit. Nature 153, 429 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153429a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153429a0