CBS Journalist Sedated and on Ventilator
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BERLIN – A CBS News correspondent critically wounded by a car bomb in Iraq that killed two colleagues was heavily sedated and breathing through a ventilator yesterday at a U.S. military hospital in Germany, a spokeswoman said.
Still, Kimberly Dozier reacted to the arrival of her boyfriend, Marie Shaw, spokeswoman for the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, said.
“She was aware of his presence,” Ms. Shaw said.
Ms. Dozier, an American, was flown to the hospital in southern Germany on Tuesday after sustaining critical injuries on Memorial Day when a roadside bomb exploded, killing two colleagues, an American soldier, and an Iraqi translator.
Ms. Dozier, 39, is still in intensive care in critical condition. However, she is now considered stable and the ventilator she is on is a routine measure, Ms. Shaw said.
“On the ventilator it’s easier for her to get the oxygen level she needs,” she added.
Ms. Shaw said she could not speculate on when Ms. Dozier may be able to go home, but she said patients usually stay at Landstuhl for an average of three to four days before being flown to America for further care.
“She has to be stable enough to sustain the flight,” she said.
Ms. Dozier, who CBS said was wearing a flak vest at the time of the explosion, is being treated for head and lower body injuries, Ms. Shaw said. She also was visited yesterday by her parents, brother, sister, and sister-in-law, Ms. Shaw said.
Ms. Dozier was traveling in a U.S. military convoy with cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan for a story about Memorial Day in Iraq when a car bomb exploded.
CBS News reported on its Web site that the three journalists – all embedded with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division – had been in an armored Humvee.
However, at the time of the blast they were outside on the street, accompanying troops who had stopped to inspect a checkpoint manned by the Iraqi army. CBS said they were wearing helmets, flak jackets, and protective eyeglasses.
The attack killed Douglas, 48, and Brolan, 42, both British citizens.
Dozens of journalists have been injured, killed, or kidnapped in Iraq since the 2003 American-led invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Before Monday’s attack, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists had put the number of journalists killed in Iraq at 69. Of those, nearly three-quarters were Iraqis.
