The combat hospital on the chief US base near Fallujah has set up a morgue and doubled medical staff and supplies in preparation for an expected stream of casualties from an anticipated assault on the rebel stronghold.
"We've had 20 to 30 casualties on a given day here. We expect maybe double that on a serious day. And we can handle them," Capt. Eric Lovell, a US Navy doctor, said at the base hospital, a low concrete building announced by a sign saying "Cheaters of Death."
The hospital added a Marine Mortuary Affairs team last month, a unit charged with identifying dead troops, cataloguing their personal effects and preparing their bodies for the flight to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware in the eastern US.
The morgue team counts 16 reservists trained in handling corpses of US troops as well as civilians and fighters that arrive at the hospital, said Commander Lach Noyes, a US Navy surgeon.
