The Korean offers his sincere condolences to the families and friends of everyone who was killed in the Arizona shooting. For everyone who is injured -- including Congresswoman Giffords -- the Korean offers his prayers for swift and miraculously full recovery.

Relevant to the purpose of this blog, the surgeon for Congresswoman Giffords was Dr. Peter Rhee, a Korean American trauma surgeon who served in the navy for 24 years. Los Angeles Times ran a brief profile of him:

Rhee, 49, chief of trauma at University Medical Center in Tucson, said his work in the Navy tending to injured soldiers and Marines and teaching the next generation of battlefield medical personnel unquestionably played a role in his ability to treat Giffords and direct care for the 10 other victims who began arriving in his unit Saturday morning.

...

Rhee said he handled "hundreds and hundreds" of battlefield injuries in two war deployments beginning in 2001. He was one of the first battlefield surgeons to be deployed to Camp Rhino, the first U.S. land base in Afghanistan, located in the remote desert about 100 miles southwest of Kandahar. In 2005, he served in Iraq.

"This doesn't compare," he said of his university hospital environs. "This is not really a mass casualty. I have all the gear and people I could possibly want. This is luxury for me. This trauma center, this is about as good as it gets."

Giffords' surgeon trained on the battlefield [Los Angeles Times]