COUNTYWIDE : Surgeons Needed for Trip to Aid Bosnians

Twenty-four volunteer doctors are needed for a medical relief mission in February to help the growing casualties of the civil war in Bosnia.

Particularly needed are doctors who can perform surgery, said Sonja Hagel, founder of Operation Second Chance.

She is leading the medical mission, her third to the war-ravaged country.

“There is still so much to be done,” said Hagel, an associate administrator of Century City Hospital in Los Angeles, who also coordinated the airlift of 19 seriously injured patients from Sarajevo to the United States in July.

Hagel went to Bosnia in January and returned in August with 12 doctors, who treated more than 200 patients in two weeks.

Among those who received care was Suad Korso, a Bosnian Muslim who had both his legs amputated at the Los Alamitos Medical Center. Korso also had surgery on his throat for injuries he suffered when he was hit by a grenade while repairing water pipes at a Bosnian street last year.

Hagel said the patients airlifted in July are still in the United States. Some are in hospitals, but a majority are living with host Bosnian and Croatian families.

For the medical mission, scheduled Feb. 19 to March 5, Hagel is looking for doctors specializing in orthopedic, brain, spine and plastic surgery. Also needed are obstetricians, pediatricians and anesthesiologists.

So far, nine doctors from across the nation have signed up for the mission, Hagel said, including one who is going to Bosnia for the third time.

“It will be a truly remarkable personal and professional experience for the volunteers,” Hagel said.

Hagel also is seeking donations of antibiotics, anesthesia and medical supplies such as sutures, gloves and dressings, which are hard to find in many areas of Bosnia and Croatia.

To volunteer or donate medical supplies, call (310) 458-2849 or write Operation Second Chance Inc., 7605 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 685, West Hollywood, Calif. 90046.