UAB Synopsis, Vol. 26, No. 39, October 29, 2007
The US Army has awarded the Bronze Star Medal to plastic surgeon Peter D. Ray, MD, assistant professor of surgery, for distinguished and meritorious service while deployed as medical director and trauma surgeon at Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khowst, Afghanistan, February 2004 to April 2005.
While in medical school, Dr. Ray joined the Army’s Specialized Training Assistance Program, which provided a monthly stipend during his training in return for future service in the Selected Reserves.
“During my plastic surgery residency at UAB, I went to Bosnia for 4 months. I returned to UAB for another 6 to 8 months before being deployed in Afghanistan. I then finished a pediatric plastics and craniofacial fellowship with Dr. John Grant [associate professor of surgery],” Dr. Ray says.
He describes the Khowst Bowl as an isolated, mountainous region bordering Pakistan. The Army’s medical facility there consisted of a tent with two stretchers and a 30-person staff.
Dr. Ray says, “I can’t say we worked miracles, but my training often allowed us to preserve functionality in a hand or foot rather than just amputating it, as was the typical practice in Afghanistan.”
His medical team supported US soldiers, Afghani special forces helping to secure the border, and local villagers who sustained injuries that threatened their lives, limbs, or eyesight. Gunshot wounds and land mine injuries were among the most common traumas they treated.
One of Dr. Ray’s notable accomplishments at Salerno was spearheading plans and securing funding for a pediatric clinic.
“Up to 30% of the patients we saw were kids, but there were many security issues transporting them in and out of the base, so we came up with the idea of an off-base clinic. We were able to build the clinic just outside the base and hire nurses who also worked as English interpreters.
“The kids in Afghanistan grow up in a very dangerous environment. They go out to play soccer and trip over a land mine, or they’re playing tag inside on a cold night and fall into the open fire that heats the home. It’s just a tough place to live,” he says.
Dr. Ray returned home and focused on devoting his UAB medical practice to treating children, specializing in pediatric posttraumatic and postburn reconstruction.
“It’s inspiring to see the way kids respond to injuries. Unlike adults, they don’t realize they have limits,” he says. “Dr. Grant and I were able to tap into some of that courage when an amputee Dr. Grant was treating at UAB outgrew his prostheses. He packaged the prostheses and sent them to me in Afghanistan, where I was able to fit them on some of the Afghani children. One ran around just like he had his own legs.”
Successes such as these are sometimes tempered with disappointments. “I saw one child who had an extensive burn and resulting contractures that kept returning despite multiple surgeries. The frustration of not being able to cure this child stimulated my interest in treating burn injuries,” Dr. Ray says.
“The Army gave me a deeper understanding of the teamwork needed in medicine and an appreciation for the resources we have here. If I wanted to send someone for a CT scan at Salerno, they would have to launch a Blackhawk helicopter and two Cobra gun ships, use $15,000 worth of fuel, and send eight crew members over the mountains, where the risk of being shot was substantial. At UAB, I just send them downstairs,” he says.
Though he has no immediate plans for redeployment, Dr. Ray recently took command of the 946th Forward Surgical Team in Mobile, Alabama, a 20-person unit that follows the troops and performs emergency surgeries.
“Because of my experience in Afghanistan, I have a balanced perspective on what is needed during predeployment training. It’s my job to go wherever I am needed. If they need us, we are ready to go,” he says.