2006年VOA标准英语-US Troops Receive Treatment at Burn Center

By Greg Flakus
San Antonio, Texas
13 January 2006
 
watch Burn Center report

Advances in combat medicine have helped hundreds of badly wounded soldiers in Iraq survive, but many of them need long-term care and rehabilitation¹. Survivors² of bomb attacks, who have often lost limbs and suffered severe burns, face an especially difficult future. But, as VOA's Greg Flakus reports from San Antonio, Texas, medical science is helping³ improve their prospects⁴ for a normal life.

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Jason and Katy Leisey  
  
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant⁵ Jason Leisey and his wife Katy were starting a life together in their home state of Pennsylvania when he volunteered to join a National Guard unit on a tour of duty in Iraq.

But his life was almost cut short last April by a suicide bomber⁶.

Now Jason and Katy both spend much of their time here at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Jason's severly injured arm   
  
The bomb left severe burns on Jason's face and left arm.

"This is silicone, it helps with the scarring,” says Katy. “You can see he has half of his thumb and half of his pointer finger and then from here on down it gets a little smaller, so we are up in therapy working on him being able to move the joints⁷."

But bad as his wounds were, Jason says he knows he was lucky compared to many other soldiers who are being treated here.

"Losing my fingers was a really traumatic experience,” Jason says, “and seeing the guys that were more injured than I was and how they coped with day-to-day living, it kind of helped me through what I was going through."

The treatment and therapy available here for Jason and other burn victims is the best medical science can offer.

 
Dr. Stephen Wolf
  
Doctor Stephen Wolf, Director of the U.S. Army Institute's Burn Center here at the Brooke Medical Center, says rapid treatment in the field and expedited transport to San Antonio have helped keep many of these burn victims alive.

"The really big burns that would have been universally fatal in the ‘60s and ‘70s, those patients routinely survive because of the advances in techniques of early excision⁸ and grafting⁹ and getting the burn wound off and putting their skin on as soon as possible," Doctor Wolf told us.

But the treatment here goes well beyond assuring the survival of burn victims. New rehabilitation techniques offer even the most badly burned soldiers hope for a better future, according to Dr. Wolf.

"The human being is very adaptive, so these guys generally can go on and live relatively¹⁰ normal lives, but it takes a year or two for them to develop the means to make that happen and that is where that rehabilitation is most active, in the first couple of years."

Major Lynn Burns, a certified¹¹ hand therapist, helps patients stretch scar tissue so as to reduce contraction¹² and regain¹³ function.

"Massage¹⁴ will help soften¹⁵ the scar and with stretching we are trying to increase the elasticity¹⁶ of the scar tissue,” says Major Burns. “We primarily work on increasing the elasticity of the scar tissue with splinting and casting and then the massage just sort of helps maintain it."

  
  
Doctors here are also working with medical researchers on some of the most promising¹⁷ advances in regenerative medicine, which Dr. Wolf says may one day provide even more for these patients.

"A lot of the regenerative technology that is out there right now is focused on (whether) we can grow a finger and then stick it on there and it works like a finger."

Once outside the hospital setting, burn victims like Jason look for support from the community and from employers in particular to begin their lives anew.

"A lot of people out there, a lot of companies, they are willing to help injured soldiers because they understand the needs that we have, they understand the tough times we have come across and a lot people really have extended their hands to us to try to help out," says Jason.

As much as they appreciate the help provided here at Brooke Medical Center, Jason and Katy look forward to the day they can leave and never need to return.

1 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

5 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？

6 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

7 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

8 excision   

n.删掉；除去

参考例句：

• The excision of the clause has been decided.已经决定删除这个条款。
• Complete excision is a curative treatment.完全切除是唯一有效的治疗方式。

9 grafting   

嫁接法，移植法

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。
• Burns can often be cured by grafting on skin from another part of the same body. 烧伤常常可以用移植身体其它部位的皮肤来治愈。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

12 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

13 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

14 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

15 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

16 elasticity   

n.弹性，伸缩力

参考例句：

• The skin eventually loses its elasticity.皮肤最终会失去弹性。
• Every sort of spring has a definite elasticity.每一种弹簧都有一定的弹性。

17 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。