Medical Miracles in Beslan

Oct. 22, 2004 — -- On Sept. 3, 2004, at about 1 p.m. the first bomb exploded inside Middle School No. 1 in Beslan, Russia, ending all hope for a peaceful resolution to a school siege by a heavily armed gang.

As gunfire erupted from inside the school, children and adults poured out in a desperate attempt to escape the school's gymnasium where more than 1,200 people had been held for three days without food or water. The scene was chaotic, but 800 meters away in an emergency medical mobile unit an elite team of Russian doctors, nurses and medical professionals were ready and waiting to take in the hundreds of people that would need care, primarily pediatric care.

Dr. Andrei Prodeus, head of pediatrics at Moscow Children's Hospital No. 9 told ABC News the kinds of injuries they were prepared to treat. "There were head injuries, burns of course and bullet wounds, and some fractures as well as people were jumping out the windows, and people were injured by the falling roof and the flames," he said.

One of the cases to arrive was 18-month-old Azam Mukagov. When he was brought into the mobile unit, he had no heartbeat and the shrapnel wound in his abdomen was so severe that it severed his liver and one of his intestines was outside of his body. Doctors performed three hours of intensive surgery.

"He was in an extremely bad condition. He was in shock," said Dr. Yandiev Suleyman, the doctor who performed Azam's surgery. "We didn't even prepare him for the operation as we normally would. That is we applied anti-shock therapy during the operation."

When Azam's condition was stabilized he was driven by ambulance to the hospital in Vladikavkaz where he received further care. In the early morning of Sept. 4, Azam and five other severely wounded were driven in ambulances equipped with life support systems onto a transport plane and flown to Moscow. Azam was then admitted to Moscow Children's Hospital No. 9, where doctors performed two more surgeries. Six weeks after the siege Azam is still in the hospital undergoing treatment, but doctors think that he will have a full recovery.