65                          HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN IRAQ, 1991:


operated a water treatment and distribution point in the center of the city, and
opened temporary medical and dental clinics.
     This last action was important because the medical treatment capability in
Zakho was almost nonexistent. The Zakho Hospital was staffed by only one
doctor and one nurse. It had electric power only about eight hours each week.
Long lines of sick refugees flooded Zakho's narrow streets, vainly hoping to be
cured at the overworked medical facility. To fill this void, MSSG-24 sent
medical and dental assistance to Zakho. About 2,200 patients were treated by
Doctor Buckley and the Navy corpsmen. Doctors Ratliff and Nogacek, dentists
assigned to MSSG-24, saw about 70 patients. As time passed, French, Irish,
Australian, and Canadian medical teams also set up shop in Zakho.
    The engineer detachment (Sergeant David C. Tanczuk) set up two Univox
Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPUs) on 23 April. These units
purified water by removing contaminants. Unpurified water was forced through
a series of cellulose or polyamide membranes fabricated into a spiral element and
stretched over a drum. The ROWPUs could produce pure drinking water from
polluted water, sea water, or brackish water. Each one pumped about 1,800
gallons of drinking water from the muddy Khabur River every hour. A water
distribution point was set up in the center of town where it serviced all who
needed water,  including allied military units, Kurdish refugees, the Iraqi
Christian colilmunity, and sometimes even Iraqi soldiers.


Chief Hospital Corpsman Arthur Angel treats a young K~~rdish re~gee's bliste red foot in a medical
dhzic on the outskirts of the city of Zakho, Iraq. Manne Service Support Group 24 (MSS~24) set
up die clinic and a water punfication station for the Kurdish refugees.