Nurses in Afghanistan

ONA District 5 Supports Nurses in Afghanistan

U.S. Naval Reservists Cdr. Cathie Lovelace, FNP, RN, and Lt. Carrie Littrell, RN, NC, deployed from Oklahoma to Afghanistan in the summer of 2010. Lovelace spent eight months at NATO Role 3 MMU Trauma Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan while Littrell was there for six months.  During the nurses’ deployment, ONA Region 5 showed its support of our military colleagues with care packages and supportive emails.

After returning to the United States, the two nurses presented a program at Duncan Regional Hospital about their experiences.  Cdr. Lovelace also talked about Compassion Fatigue Syndrome. She has conducted research on the topic and recently received funding from the Navy to study the relationship between Compassion Fatigue and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Lovelace reported the amount of trauma seen on a daily basis while serving in a war zone is overwhelming and frequently results in Compassion Fatigue.

Littrell and Lovelace explained that Kandahar and the surrounding area is not sandy as most people think, but rather there is much barren dirt and rock. They remarked several times that everything there was dirty, even the water. The dirt affected healing time and infections took a long time to heal when compared with what we see in the U.S.

Lt. Littrell’s presentation included graphic photos of some of the types of severe, traumatic injuries suffered, but the good news was that 98% of the patients coming to their trauma bay survived. She also reported there were three operating suites that were “in use all the time.” She stated that blood transfused into U.S. soldiers is U.S. blood only. People who were not Americans were given blood from other countries, such as Czechoslovakia, where screening is not as sophisticated as it is in the U.S. According to Lovelace and Littrell, soldiers in Afghanistan “donate blood like crazy so that U.S. soldiers receive blood from U.S. solders.”

The photographs shared by the two nurses showed Military Police in the OR wearing scrubs with weapons slung over their shoulders when the patients being treated were Taliban detainees. They said caring for the Taliban was an additional source of stress for the medical personnel because they were required to care for the enemy just as they do our own service men and women. They reported the Taliban patients were given goggles to wear with tape on both sides so they could not identify who was caring for them and that they are shackled for the nurses’ safety.

The nurses said they had to stay within a fenced-in area that surrounded the hospital and could not venture beyond the fence. Even with the fence, six people died during their stay who were either medical or IT personnel from rockets being launched over the fence. 

Upon returning to the U.S., Cdr. Lovelace explained she went through a Warrior Transition Program which typically lasts three to five days. She said that soldiers begin a decompression process by being required to hand over their weapons as they disembark from the plane. They are told they are safe and on American soil and they do not need to carry their weapons. On the second day, the soldiers are asked to give back their uniforms worn while deployed because they do not need them. Soldiers wishing to keep their uniforms can do so. The next day they are divided into small groups and further decompressed by discussing how they feel about coming home. They are told there are others like them and help is available. Positives and negatives of the experience are discussed. Cdr. Lovelace described it as a “physical and mental undressing process” as the soldiers transition. There is also a Wounded Warrior Transition Program that lasts three to six months and includes families of those injured. 

ONA Region 5 was honored to hear these two nurses share their experiences from Afghanistan. We sincerely thank them for serving our country and protecting our freedom. Pictures of the hospital can be seen on Facebook. Just search for MMU Role 3 Hospital, Afghanistan.