Published 4 August 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3153
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3153

News

Doctors’ skills are tested as British casualties in Afghanistan rise

Nayanah Siva

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Last month saw the highest number yet of battle injuries and fatalities among UK forces in Afghanistan, and the number of patients classified as "very seriously injured or wounded" rose sharply. Consequently the skills of doctors are being put to the test, a senior military doctor has admitted.

Figures released by the Ministry of Defence on 30 July showed that 16 people had been reported as seriously injured as a result of battle in the two weeks from 1 July to 15 July alone, whereas the number for the whole of June was 13. Thirteen people were killed in action in the first two weeks of July, whereas in the whole of June only four were killed in action. In addition, 57 casualties were wounded in action between 1 and 15 July, a sharp rise in comparison with the 46 wounded in action during the whole of June.

The most . . . [Full text of this article]


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