By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Dr. Jay Johannigman says young soldiers are at risk in Iraq. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

Dr. Jay Johannigman's three months as a military doctor in Iraq confirmed what he already knew - war zones are dangerous places for young Americans.

But not much more so than the streets of Cincinnati.

"On any weekend in our emergency room, I can lose three, four, five young men to gunshot wounds, to car wrecks, to any of the dangers out there,'' said Johannigman, head of trauma care at University Hospital.

He returned last week from duty in a military hospital in southern Iraq, where he saw few soldiers wounded by hostile fire. The hospital was on the main supply highway from Kuwait City to Baghdad, and it treated U.S. soldiers for injuries and illnesses, along with contract truck drivers.

Occasionally, a sick or wounded Iraqi would come in for help; and he also treated Iraqi prisoners.

But Johannigman's experience as a trauma doctor, dealing daily with the results of urban violence, trained him well for dealing with soldiers wounded in battle, or injured in accidents.

Johannigman is a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve. At University Hospital, he runs one of the nation's four civilian medical centers that provide refresher courses for Air Force doctors, nurses and technicians.

The military medical personnel learn by doing - treating wounds from gunshots or violent accidents.

"It is the best possible training for a doctor or nurse who is going to a war zone,'' Johannigman said. "Sometimes it looks like a war zone.''

His three-month experience in Iraq convinced him that Americans back home are getting a distorted picture when they see the almost-daily reports of American soldiers being killed in terrorist attacks or accidents.

"I don't want to sound like I take lightly the danger our soldiers face over there, because I don't,'' Johannigman said. "They have a tough, dangerous job. But we've had about the same number of Ohioans die in car wrecks over the same period of time.''

What gave Johannigman the most satisfaction in Iraq, he said, "was to be able to look that young soldier who was in the field hospital square in the eye and tell him, 'You're going to be OK. We're going to patch you up and you'll be fine.' ''

The Air Force's well-organized medical operation in Iraq is what gave him that confidence.

"The technology has advanced to the point that, in this war, we could put everything we need to make a field hospital on one C-130 (cargo plane) and set it up in 12 hours,'' Johannigman said. "And we could knock it all down and move it to a new location in 24 hours.''

E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com