Mosul, Iraq

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Ruskie

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

199 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
I don't know if anyone is interested but I have just returned from Mosul in Iraq. I volunteered to work in a trauma stabilisation centre with a NGO for 2 weeks. No NGO has worked as close to the frontline of a war zone as we did.

The aim was to stabilise the most serious trauma and move them out to definitive care within 15 minutes. Soldiers, civilians and lots of civilian children were who we cared for. The battle for control of Mosul has been going on since October 2016 but slowly the Iraqi army are winning the war against ISIS. They are a brutal enemy and we saw a lot of evidence of that brutality. ISIS snipers didn't discriminate against women and children trying to flee the violence and we also saw a lot of severe injuries from ISIS mortars.

The trip changed my outlook on life. The inhumanity and brutality I witnessed was shocking and raw. I'm proud to have tried to make a difference. I will put some pictures up.

The living conditions were as you can imagine, limited. 40c+ heat every day and no air conditioning combined with limited running water and sleeping on the floor was challenging. We worked in a disused house with a make shift clinic.

This was the first house.



The clinic set up.

[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/q6uTEpKC[/url

This was the second house we used.
[url|https://thumbsnap.com/mWrcPVW8[/url]

This house was a ISIS house prior to it being recaptured. Here is the sniper not still built up.

]

ISIS Graffiti



Empty shells left over from ISIS



View to the frontline.



Second clinic.



Sleeping arrangements.



Mobile missle launcher



I have a few pictures of the injuries we dealt with (consent gained) but I won't put them up here. They are as horrific as you can imagine. I dealt with so many children with shrapnel wounds, gun shots and burns that I lost count. That said for all the inhumanity and austere living conditions I loved every minute of being there. I'm struggling to adjust back to life in the UK but that is normal after witnessing so much. It's giving a little media coverage but the Iraqi armed forces are pushing hard and suffering losses to push back this evil group ISIS and ,ale the world a safer place.

Thanks for reading if you got this far!

Edited to say I have no idea why they are side on. If anyone wants to see anymore I will put more up.

Stupeo

1,343 posts

192 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
Much respect for spending two weeks volunteering!

I can't imagine what it must be like - but very sobering seeing some of those images.

How did you get in/out safely? Did the "clinic" have any protection, i.e. armed guards/soldiers etc? How far away from the frontline?

Ruskie

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

199 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
Stupeo said:
Much respect for spending two weeks volunteering!

I can't imagine what it must be like - but very sobering seeing some of those images.

How did you get in/out safely? Did the "clinic" have any protection, i.e. armed guards/soldiers etc? How far away from the frontline?
I meant to say that in the original post!

We were 4/5km from frontline as ISIS mortar capability was approx 3km and 4/5km was was deemed safe. We weren't alllowed on the roof in case of sniper fire and stray tracer bullets. The noise was an experience, mortars, small arms fire, apache gunships and the mobile missle launcher firing regularly. I have videos but they are too large to upload.

We were embedded and working along side Iraqi special forces ERD. They had medics working alongside us and were armed and responsible for our safety and watching our back. Really nice guys and felt totally safe in their hands.









grumbledoak

31,499 posts

232 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
bow

It must feel good to know you made a difference, right there in the thick of it. Superb.

BlackLabel

13,251 posts

122 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
Well done Ruskie for volunteering for this - that takes some balls.


Stupeo

1,343 posts

192 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
Ruskie said:
I meant to say that in the original post!

We were 4/5km from frontline as ISIS mortar capability was approx 3km and 4/5km was was deemed safe. We weren't alllowed on the roof in case of sniper fire and stray tracer bullets. The noise was an experience, mortars, small arms fire, apache gunships and the mobile missle launcher firing regularly. I have videos but they are too large to upload.

We were embedded and working along side Iraqi special forces ERD. They had medics working alongside us and were armed and responsible for our safety and watching our back. Really nice guys and felt totally safe in their hands.
Thanks!

Would love to see the videos, if you manage to upload them (perhaps YouTube?!).

Ruskie

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

199 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
Turn volume right up :-)

Apache gun ship. This was a constant noise throughout the two weeks.
https://youtu.be/C3cUEiEtxSs


Mobile missile launch. This was so loud it felt like your ear drums were going to burst.
https://youtu.be/wdzrp96cqzk


rich85uk

3,312 posts

178 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
Fair play to you for having the balls to do that clapbow

So how do you actually get to Mosul, is it a direct flight into Iraq then transport or via somewhere like Turkey? and how do you actually go about getting this arranged?

Butter Face

30,192 posts

159 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
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Good on you. Hell of a thing to do!

Ruskie

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

199 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
rich85uk said:
Fair play to you for having the balls to do that clapbow

So how do you actually get to Mosul, is it a direct flight into Iraq then transport or via somewhere like Turkey? and how do you actually go about getting this arranged?
Its Istanbul to Erbil then roughly 3 hours by road through various checkpoints. We had special privilege (lights and sirens basically) as the more you keep moving the less chance of abduction/incidents. It was done through a charity/NGO. I'm a Paramedic so my skills were transferable to working in that environment.

hornetrider

63,161 posts

204 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
Respect, chap. Respect.

WolfAir

456 posts

134 months

Monday 26th June 2017
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Emotionally over whelming just looking at your pictures. I couldnt imagine what you have experienced.
It is times and stories such as these one must have faith that there is some form of judgement for these barbaric actions on innocent people.

Equilibrium25

653 posts

133 months

Monday 26th June 2017
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hornetrider said:
Respect, chap. Respect.
+1

In awe of your commitment Ruskie, and thanks for posting. A PH gem amongst the dross.

Puggit

48,355 posts

247 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
Nothing to say apart from clap and thank you for sharing. It's appreciated that we can see a different view compared to the news.

Ruskie

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

199 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
Children are for the vast majority the most difficult to deal with. Unfortunately this conflict is causing a lot of civilian casualties. As the fighting has reached the old town it its a network of small alleyways and streets that tanks and hummers can't get down. Because of this it is slow clearing the area as each area house has to be checked individually. Combined with IED's and sniper fire it's dangerous. As areas are liberated we were getting the civilians casualties brought to us, many with mortar injuries and all hungry and dehydrated. These people are literally scared to leave their own house because of the indiscretion shown by ISIS snipers.

Two stories that will stick with me. A small snapshot of the 2 weeks.

We received a 6 year old girl with fairly minor injuries, however her entire family had been killed due to a mortar hitting her house. How do you even begin to understand the pain she was experiencing?

At one point we received 3 children in one ambulance. The girl I was looking after was 4 and from her knees to the end of her toes on both legs were completely burned. Not only that but they were 2 days old so the risk of infection was incredibly high. Her brother has full thickness burns to his face. He was 2. His face was literally black and his eyes shut due to the swelling. Truly heartbreaking.

Ruskie

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

199 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
A few miscellaneous pictures.

This was one of 4 refugee camps we saw en route to Mosul. It's a mixture of displaced Iraqis and Syrians.



The general destruction of the city was mind blowing. Every house has either been flattered or riddled with bullet holes. Whilst withdrawing when pushed back, ISIS blew out the bridges and main roads so that it was slow progress for the Iraqis to moved forward. Bulldozers are a common sight but because of their value they are a target for snipers and are incredibly well armoured.










CrutyRammers

13,735 posts

197 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
Puggit said:
Nothing to say apart from clap and thank you for sharing. It's appreciated that we can see a different view compared to the news.
seconded, well done chap.

Andehh

7,107 posts

205 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
BlackLabel said:
Well done Ruskie for volunteering for this - that takes some balls.
Couldn't agree more, well done Ruskie!

Please, if you have more pictures & videos do post them up - maybe not the 'NSFW' ones for the sake of us sat here on our Lunch breaks.

Who was the charity you were with, wouldn't mind donating a bit to it?

Real respect mate!

p1stonhead

25,489 posts

166 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
Do you have to check your massive balls into the hold on the flight or can the be counted as carry on?

Huge respect for you doing that!

Ruskie

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

199 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
Ok so I'm not going to mention the NGO I went with as I am putting pictures/videos up involving guns and things and that is an association I want to avoid as they are a completely impartial organisation. There a few pictures of me taken on my down time. This will be last set of pictures. The others I have have injuries, other people at work and are NSFW.

My bed in first house.



[url|https://thumbsnap.com/pDgxWPTH[/url]

Bomb crater.



Who doesn't like a Hummer?!



I did 3 transfers out to other hospitals with critical patients. Because of the risk of IED and sniper fire I had to wear body armour.



Mosul burned 24/7



Small example of minor shrapnel injury




Thanks for the interest.

Edited by Ruskie on Monday 21st June 09:30