This soldier was rearranging items on top of his vehicle when he tripped, fell off the vehicle and landed on his right shoulder. He had both a dislocated shoulder and an A-C separation! As you can see, he is on the litter stand setup I described earlier. In this photo, we are using a technique called scapular manipulation to put his shoulder back in place. 1LT Joseph Estrada is holding the scapula (shoulder blade) in place while Doc Schultz attempts to manipulate the arm back into its socket. SPC Julio Lobato looks on...

Needless to say, the above technique was unsuccessful! That's okay, it allowed us to demonstrate a second technique for reducing a shoulder dislocation. This one is called the Hippocratic Maneuver. Basically, we play "tug of war" with the patient. SPC Lobato (left) and PFC Manuel Tapia (not seen) pull the patient's body in one direction while Doc Schultz pulls the arm in the opposite direction! PFC James Dortmundt looks on while I await Doc's signal for help. With four of us tugging on this guy's shoulder, we were able to reset the arm prior to evacuating him for x-rays. By the way, the patient, in order to avoid getting stuck with needles, asked us to do all this without the aid of anesthesia!

This third picture is of an abscess on the patient's earlobe. Treatment included cutting the abscess open, draining all the fluid out of it, rinsing it thoroughly, then leaving it open to heal from the inside out. No one thought of taking any pictures during this bloody procedure, so we can't gross you out. However, if you'd like to see some gory stuff, just click below...