19th Flight

Location, Location, Location.
Holds true even in Iraq, as in it is probably not good to live near a police station in Iraq. An Iraqi family of 3 (dad, mom, ~12 year old daughter) were at home, perhaps sitting around in the living room, when a mortar round fired by the bad guys errantly landed in their house. All 3 came to us, the first flight nurse flew with the daughter (intubated due to altered level of consciousness from a head injury) and the father (chest injury and general shrapnel), and after a lengthy surgery to repair a serious abdominal bleed and a very damaged lower leg (without a doubt the surgeons saved her leg - or at least gave her a fighting chance to keep it), I accompanied the mother to one of the level 3 facilities.