BY ADELLE LARMOUR

“If you arrive alive, you will survive,” states the motto at the Kandahar Institute of Surgical Science at Kandahar Air Field.

More commonly known as KAF, it is here that two-thirds of the 2,500 Canadian soldiers will spend their tour of duty, said Captain Ray Wiss. A Sudbury emergency room specialist, Wiss felt compelled to rejoin the army and serve as a trauma physician in one of the most dangerous parts of the world.

Aware of the growing concerns Canadians have about Afghanistan’s civil war, Wiss recently gave a presentation in Sudbury to share his experiences from a three-and-a-half month tour-of-duty in the country.

Wiss supports the mission and describes Canada’s involvement as a “just cause.”
He witnessed first hand the Taliban’s tyranny over Afghan civilians and the acts of torture they inflicted on their captives before murdering them.

As a physician, Wiss’s excursion was unusual in that he spent the majority of his tour “outside the wire,” where physicians rarely go. However, in his youth, he served with the Canadian Armed Forces and was asked to serve in the infantry again.

Initially, his mission began at KAF, “inside the wire.” Hot showers, flush toilets, a laundromat and even a Tim Hortons offer similar comforts to a university dorm, but surrounding concrete rocket shelters distinguish it from a school campus.

Canvas walls

The primary-care area has canvas walls and linoleum floors. A coalition trauma team consisting of eight to 12 doctors and nurses delivers the highest possible level of care to soldiers and civilians suffering war injuries. They work in the trauma-resuscitation area consisting of eight bays containing the same equipment that would exist in any level one trauma centre in Canada. Helicopter transportation plays a crucial role in flying the wounded onto the site.

“In a modern war, you are most likely to die by bleeding to death, a process that can take from one to two hours,” Wiss said. “So if we can get you off the battlefield and loaded into a helicopter and back to KAF within the first golden hour, we stand a very good chance of keeping you alive.”

The majority of people treated at KAF are Afghan soldiers because they do most of the heavy lifting and take more than their share of casualties. Knowing this, he learned Pashto from an Afghan woman living in Sudbury so he could communicate with his patients.

The Afghans’ limited military budget means their soldiers can’t afford the same head, eye and chest protection as the Canadians. Nor do they drive in heavily-fortified armoured vehicles. Instead, these “incredibly brave” soldiers drive pick-up trucks, which suffer serious damage from roadside bombs or attacks.

“You cannot criticize their courage,” Wiss said.

The majority of the injuries are caused by mines called IEDs (improvised explosive devices) or roadside bombs. The Taliban harvest them from unexploded bombs or artillery shells, bury them in the road and detonate them when the soldiers are near.

These devices also cause the most Canadian casualties. Wiss said the busiest surgeons are the orthopaedic ones, because the wounds often result in amputation.

One-third of the soldiers will serve “outside the wire,” 30 kilometres west of Kandahar in the combat areas of the Zhari and Panjwayi districts, an area of about 600 square kilometres. It is here, in the village of Sangasar, where Taliban leader Mullah Omar is thought to reside.

Aid station

Wiss joined his fellow soldiers at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Lynx, treating trauma cases at an aid station he described as rudimentary but effective.

“Resources are limited, but I can do everything necessary to stabilize patients for the flight to KAF: intubate, ventilate, put in chest tubes, stop major bleeding, rehydrate patients intravenously and stabilize spines and fractured limbs.”

Taliban prisoners

Physicians treat all war-related injuries, including those of Taliban prisoners. When this happens, it is made known to them that the “Canadians” patched them up because if the situation were reversed, the favour would not be reciprocated.

Wiss described Afghanistan’s civil war as a “war of ideas.” The Canadian Forces are there, he said, to keep the Taliban

occupied, so they can’t affect what is going on in the rest of the country. They also train Afghan soldiers and meet with elders to help the Afgans become self-sustaining through education.

“It is through education that you inoculate your country from extremism,” Wiss said. “It is through education that you drive your country out of misery.”

This extremism is evident in the Taliban’s attacks on civilians. In 2007, they burned or blew up 130 schools, forced the closure of a further 300 by threatening teachers and murdered 105 who didn’t comply.

As grim as it may sound, progress is being made, said Wiss. The six million Afghans who lived in squalid refugee camps along the country’s borders for more than 20 years returned home in 2002. This means they are well on their way to rebuilding the country’s schools, health-care facilities, transportation infrastructure and economy.

“All these people have come back. The only thing they wanted was safety and security, and that’s what we are giving them.”

During his time in Afghanistan, Wiss kept a diary, which is in the process of being published. All proceeds will go to the Military Family Fund, which helps military families in distress.

Whether or not Wiss will return to Afghanistan will be a decision he and his wife will make. But it is clear that Wiss, a principled man, believes this is a moral war that must be fought.

“The Taliban have gone so far into immorality that it seems moral to go to war against them. If it is a moral war, then it is one we’ll surely win, because tyrannies can’t survive education.”