VOA标准英语2010-US Air Force Targets 'Golden Hour' for Wo

David Axe¹ | Bagram, Afghanistan 27 April 2010

US Air Force crews prepare their helicopters at Bagram Air Base

Wounded NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan often depend on helicopter medical evacuation teams to stay alive. The medevac teams are trained to retrieve² wounded troops and get them to a military hospital outside of Kabul for treatment within 60 minutes. It's called "the golden hour," and within it, the survival rate is around 95 percent.

At Bagram Air Base, U.S. Air Force crews prepare their helicopters. For the next 12 hours, the medevac teams and machines will be on call to evacuate³ wounded troops from anywhere in eastern Afghanistan to Bagram's military-run trauma⁴ hospital.

Lt. Col. Mark Ahrens is on the command staff of the 56th Rescue Squadron at Bagram. He says his squadron is a reassuring⁵ presence in some of the country's most dangerous regions.

"It's important for many reasons, really, to give the confidence to the ground teams -- all our American GIs as well as our coalition⁶ partners on the ground -- that if they do get injured, there's somebody to go get them, whether it's in a benign⁷ situation or in the middle of a firefight."

The airmen don't fly until they're needed. That means waiting, sometimes for hours or even days.

Staff Sergeant⁸ Derek Brock is used to the waiting. He didn't fly his first real rescue until several years into his career.

"That's the way it usually goes," said Sergeant Brock.  "You never know when you're going to do it."

Still, the squadron stays busy. The Bagram hospital admits around 3,000 patients a month, many of them by air. When the call comes, the 56th's six-person crews can be airborne within minutes.

On a recent mission, the 56th flew to Jalalabad, about 100 kilometers away, to retrieve two wounded NATO personnel.

Theirs were not life-threatening injuries, so the 56th slowed down. Total time from takeoff to delivering the patients to Bagram: less than two hours.

After dropping off the patients, the choppers headed to Bagram's gunnery range to test their weapons. Unlike other medevac aircraft, Air Force helicopters are equipped to defend themselves.

That means they're expensive. Last year, citing the cost, the Pentagon canceled a $14 billion program to buy new helicopters for the rescue squadrons and switch the medical missions to less heavily armed Army helicopters.

But after further review, Pentagon officials revived the plans for the new helicopters. And the 56th Rescue Squadron is still flying and saving lives in Afghanistan.

 

1 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

2 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

3 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

4 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

5 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

6 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

7 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

8 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？