USAF Major Jeff Leary, M.D., left, describes the materials in the Afghanistan display to UAB orthopedic surgeons Rena Stewart, M.D., and Jason Lowe, M.D., as well as members of the care team on the North Pavilion orthopedic trauma floor.

A display on the 8th floor Orthopedic unit in the North Pavilion honors those who care for wounded warriors. Major Jeff Leary, an orthopedic surgeon, and Master Sergeant Chad Smith, a surgical technician, are members of the UAB-stationed United State Air Force Special Operations Surgical Team-Special Operations Critical Care Evacuation Team (SOST-SOCCET). They donated the display materials to UAB’s orthopedic trauma service. The items include a U.S. flag that flew above the base in Northwest Afghanistan where the team was stationed between Jan and April, 2011.  Other items include the Air Force Special Ops badge and a Special Ops Medical Service badge. The display was unveiled on May 29.
 
SOST-SOCCET comprises trauma and orthopedic surgeons, emergency physicians, a nurse anesthetist, surgical scrub tech, critical-care nurse and respiratory tech. When not deployed overseas by the military, they work together at UAB: in surgery, in the trauma center and in the intensive-care units. Training at UAB allows the team to work as a unit, and provides the frequency and types of major trauma cases needed to prepare them for what they might see in battle.  Their job when deployed is to provide far forward medical care to injured members of U.S. Special Forces teams during missions in any of the world’s dangerous hot spots.