Improved Body Armor and Medicine Save Lives in Iraq

Roadside bombs are a terrifying hallmark of the war in Iraq, and the serious head wounds they cause occur at nearly double the rate of past wars. The injuries suffered by "World News Tonight" co-anchor Bob Woodruff and ABC News' cameraman Doug Vogt happen on a regular basis to the men and women who serve in Iraq.

The two ABC News' journalists are in serious but stable condition, which means "that the vital functions, the heart, the breathing, have been controlled so that life is not in serious threat," said ABC News' medical editor Dr. Tim Johnson. They are now being treated in Germany and have been joined by their wives and Woodruff's brother David.

Compared to the Vietnam War, when about 12 percent of all wounded soldiers sustained a brain injury, in Iraq, 22 percent of the wounded have serious head wounds.

But the wounded in Iraq also have a much greater chance of surviving. In World War II, 30 percent of all injured troops died; 24 percent died in Vietnam. In Iraq, just 9 percent of the injured lose their lives. Improved body armor and advances in battlefield medicine have saved countless lives.

So far, more than 16,500 U.S. soldiers and Marines have been injured in Iraq.

Researchers who examined records at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., found that every patient who was exposed to a blast was evaluated for traumatic brain injury. They found that 59 percent of those evaluated sustained a traumatic brain injury and that 56 percent of those cases were considered moderate or severe. Usually, the Army finds that 20 percent of those evaluated actually sustain traumatic brain injuries, according to the Army's public affairs office.

The news come from www.bossgoo.com

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