Teri paid no attention to the unharmed corporate types streaming out of the office building and onto the big Pave Hawk transports which had landed in the street intersection.
They loaded her bird with five soldiers in a bay rated for two litters. Four more went to the other bird; no longer her problem.
No second medic—her choices were limited.
Soldier One?
No pulse. No blood pressure. Oxygenation low to near zero.
Bad signs.
Temperature actually significantly higher than normal.
That gave her pause.
But only for a moment.
The outdoor temperature here was significantly higher than body temperature. And the sudden transition from the full heat of battle to a stopped heart, meant that the body was no longer able to cool itself by circulating blood and producing sweat.
This body’s core was superheated to 109.
She’d need ice packs, shock paddles, units of whole blood, and time.
Teri had everything but the last.
Moving on.
Soldier Two had the three-chevrons-and-a-rocker insignia of a staff sergeant—and a large hole where his brain was supposed to be.
She rolled him on top of the other one to make some room. They were past caring and she certainly didn’t.
With a quick glance she assessed the other three soldiers.
One appeared to be mobile.
One critical.
The third, a woman, her dusky skin pale, still sat upright in the cargo bay doorway, her rifle tracking below as they lifted. There was a wide, dark blood stain on her back.
“You,” she shouted at the mobile one.
“Doc.”
“Fine. Doc. Get some pressure on those wounds,” she pointed at the woman. “Then get her stitched up.”
Teri then turned to the other victim and began her triage inspection.