The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) is an overseas military hospital operated by the United States Army and the Department of Defense. LRMC is the largest military hospital outside of the continental United States. It is located near Landstuhl, Germany, and serves as the nearest treatment center for wounded soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, it serves military personnel stationed in the European Union as well as their family members.
The medical center also serves as a stop-over (medevaced via the nearby Ramstein Air Base) for serious casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan before being flown to the United States.
With the United States military's gradual withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan over the years, the number of casualties have dwindled and Landstuhl was downgraded to a Level III trauma center in May 2014. The Navy disbanded its Expeditionary Medical Unit later that same year.
History
Founded in 1953, the hospital was known as the 2nd General Hospital, or Landstuhl Army Medical Center. During the 1990s, the United States Army Europe underwent a reorganization, and the hospitals in Frankfurt, Berlin, Nuremberg, and other bases were gradually closed down, or were downsized to clinics. In April 1993, a group of 288 Air Force personnel augmented the staff, thus making Landstuhl a joint medical unit. By 1997, it was the U.S. military's only medical center in Europe, and it then became known as Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
Organ donation
Landstuhl is one of the top hospitals for organ's donations in its region in the EU. Roughly half of the troops who died at Landstuhl from combat injuries from 2005 through 2010 were organ donors. That was the first year the U.S. military allowed organs to be donated by American troops who died in Germany from wounds suffered in Iraq or Afghanistan. From 2005 through 2010, 34 American military members who died at Landstuhl donated a total of 142 organs, according to the German organ transplant organization, Deutsche Stiftung Organtransplantation. In 2010, 10 of the 12 American service members who died at Landstuhl were donors, giving 45 organs.
See also
- Münchweiler an der Rodalb
- US Army Medical Materiel Center â€" Europe
- American Hospital of Paris
References
- Fichtner, Ullrich (2007-03-14). "A Visit to the US Military Hospital". DER SPIEGEL. Retrieved 2007-03-20.Â
- Jones, Meg (2011-04-24). "A Soldier's Death Gives Life to Another Man". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2011-05-12.Â
- Shanker, Thom (2012-06-10). "Landstulh Hospital to be Replaced but with What?". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-05-12.Â
External links
Media related to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center at Wikimedia Commons
- LRMC homepage
