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R. Bradley Thomason III, MD with Salem Vascular Specialists in Winston-Salem, N.C., volunteered from Oct. 31 through Nov. 15, 2009, to fill a slot in the surgery rotation at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, where many of the soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan are treated.

He joined 51 fellow members of the Society for Vascular Surgery© (SVS) (who volunteered through November 2009) in relieving the limited number of military vascular surgeons in military hospitals in the United States and internationally.

“Our members understand how important expert surgeons are to the military in saving the lives and limbs of these young military heroes,” said Anton N. Sidawy, MD, SVS president. “In 2007, we were asked to help by SVS member, retired Col. David Gillespie, who at the time was the vascular surgery consultant, Office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General and a professor of surgery at Walter Reed Medical Center. Our members quickly and generously responded. I am proud to represent members of a specialty that unselfishly contribute where they are needed.”

Injuries incurred in the Iraq war are unique in that they include blast injuries from IEDs (improvised explosive devise) and high-velocity injuries from crashes. Vascular surgeons repair the damaged arteries and veins that are injured as a result of the IEDs by using both minimally invasive and open surgery.