In Luanda's main hospital, the men's trauma ward reeks with the stench of infected wounds.

Chaundra had grown up on a planet where personal violence was fairly common, and done his internship in a trauma ward.

Outside the trauma ward at Sklifosovsky Hospital on a recent evening, an ambulance driver awaited another call.

At the hospital, a police officer was stationed just inside the door of the surgical trauma ward, where Mr. Louima was recovering.

The Bosnian chief of Kosovo Hospital's trauma ward told me the hospital had been kept open even after running out of supplies and losing power.

Dr. Mufid Lazovic, the deputy director of the trauma ward, said one day in particular stood out.

He is recovering in the surgical trauma ward, with a police guard at the door to his room.

It is the shrieks and whimpers in the trauma ward of Luanda's biggest hospital, where doctors stitch wounds without painkillers.

After the first hour, Crusher had almost learned to ignore the rifle-toting Starfleet security guards positioned at the corners of the trauma ward.

Of the first 35 people brought into the trauma ward, said Dr. Faruk Kulenovic, 5 were already dead.