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中共乃参天巨树独享阳光营养 -- Anonymous - (120 Byte) 2003-8-14 周四, 下午8:31 (105 reads) |
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作者：Anonymous 在 罕见奇谈 发贴, 来自 http://www.hjclub.org
Relentless Iraqi Heat Becoming Fatal
Temperatures Regularly Exceed 115; At Least Two U.S. Soldiers Have Succumbed
By Theola Labb?
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 14, 2003; Page A12
BAGHDAD, Aug. 13 -- There's a great view where Pfc. Steven York works, but no shade.
When York, 25, of Omaha, reports for guard duty every day at the Al Digla Bora bank, he sits high in the turret of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle that holds heat like an oven.
"The metal radiates heat all day long," he said from behind his wraparound black sunglasses. "The only thing we do to beat the heat is make our shift shorter."
In Baghdad, peak temperatures have exceeded 115 degrees for 10 of the past 11 days. "It's like standing in a blow dryer," Sgt. David Harris of the 1st Armored Division said between sips from a water bottle as he guarded the Health Ministry.
The relentless heat has become more than a nuisance to the tens of thousands of U.S. troops posted in Iraq. Of the 79 Americans who have died in Iraq of causes unrelated to combat since May 1, at least two -- and perhaps as many as five -- have succumbed to the heat, according to defense officials.
The most recent such incident occurred Tuesday, when a soldier with the 4th Infantry Division died in his sleep from what commanders described as heat stress, which has been defined as a condition in which the total net heat load on the body from internal heat production and external sources exceeds the body's capacity to cool itself.
Also on Tuesday, Staff Sgt. Richard S. Eaton Jr., 37, with the 323rd Military Intelligence Battalion, died in his sleep at a base camp in the town of Ramadi, and on Monday, a soldier at Ramadi attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment also died while sleeping. Both deaths were being investigated and might have been heat-related.
In July, Pvt. Robert L. McKinley, 23, from the 101st Airborne Division, died in a hospital in Germany, where he was being treated for heat stroke suffered in June in Mosul. And military officials said they suspect that Sgt. Floyd G. Knighten Jr., 55, of the 3rd Corps Support Command, died Aug. 9 of heat-related causes while traveling with a convoy between military bases in Iraq.
Road accidents have caused the most non-combat deaths -- 21 -- and on Tuesday, a soldier from the 101st Airborne was killed and a civilian interpreter injured when their vehicle was hit by a taxi.
The number of combat-related casualties also rose Tuesday, officials said today. Explosives killed two American soldiers and injured three near Dawr and Taji. Since major combat was declared over on May 1, 59 U.S. soldiers have been killed in enemy attacks.
Maj. Michael Pelzner, the senior physician with the 501st Forward Support Battalion, counsels soldiers and commanders on preventing injuries from the heat, as well as from hostile fire.
"It's something everybody needs to have in the back of their mind," said Pelzner, who runs a one-room trauma clinic at the site of the former Iraqi police academy. "It has to be part of the mission."
Pelzner said soldiers are often so focused on their duties that they pay little or no attention to their health. "Often the young guys are so gung ho, they want to complete the mission, they often don't take the time to drink water," he said.
Then again, the heat was the main topic of conversation at Mule Skinner Base, where soldiers of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment stood guard at a former military college.
Sgt. Scott Anderson, 42, of Fort Collins, Colo., whipped open his flak jacket and fatigues to show a soaked undershirt. Four months ago, before his stint in Iraq, he weighed 185 pounds. He said he now checks in at 170.
"You always look like you've come out of the pool," he said.
Spec. Amar Arias, 21, from Las Vegas, said the metal on his rifle was too hot to touch. He pulled back his uniform to show evidence of heat rash. Metal plates in flak jackets can heat sweat to scalding temperatures, and canteens aren't impervious to the scorching sun, either.
His solution: "Drink the hot water."
In such conditions, sleep can be next to impossible. Many soldiers can return to barracks equipped with air conditioners powered by generators. Others find ways to improvise.
Anderson said his most successful tactic was to put a wet towel on his bunk. Pfc. Marlon Lonebear said he slept outdoors on the boxes that brought the new air conditioners.
"Eventually, you just fall asleep," said Lonebear, 19, of Mandaree, N.D. "Then you wake up and there's sweat everywhere. There's sweat in places you thought that you could never sweat in."
Sgt. Daniel Jackson, 39, of Jacksonville, Fla., sees no problem with that. He believes in a good sweat.
Jackson was wearing black gloves as he checked IDs outside the Iraqi convention center, where press briefings are held. "It keeps the moisture in the body and helps with sweating," he explained with a doctor's precision. "Sweating cools the body down."
Still, Jackson left the shade only when a visitor approached.
Correspondent Anthony Shadid and staff researcher Robert E. Thomason in Washington contributed to this report.
?2003 The Washington Post Company
An unidentified U.S. Army soldier is treated for heat exhaustion and minor injuries last week at the scene of an attempted bank robbery in Baghdad. (Scott Nelson -- Getty Images)
作者：Anonymous 在 罕见奇谈 发贴, 来自 http://www.hjclub.org |
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