but cbs news correspondent charissa ward managed to slip into syria with a camera. tonight, she shows us how the rebels cope with casualties from the street battles that they fight with the syrian army. they cannot show their faces. they risk their lives to talk to us. >> reporter: as an opposition activist, abu ahmed spends a lot of time underground, in the basement of a building on the outskirts of damascus, he let us into a secret passage, carefully camouflaged in a corner. there are boxes stuffed with life-saving supplies. so they are stockpiling all different sorts of medical equipment here. we've got everything from penicillin to surgical gloves and perhaps most ominously, a skin stapler. these pictures, shot by opposition activists, show how day after day, syria's protesters are shot and beaten by president assad's security forces. we were taken to a makeshift field hospital. this doctor explained to us going to a government-run hospital is too dangerous. "there have been many case where's injured people were arrested over even taken out operating rooms mid-s

inside syria-- charissa ward takes us to an underground hospital where rebels, wounded by assad's armytreated in secret. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley.

now, charissa ward from afghanistan says the military is take a new approach. >> reporter: getting treated by captain amy gray can entail playing with dogs, watching movies, even getting massages. an occupational therapist, gray heads the concussion care center at forward operating base fenti, where a simple technique is making the world of difference in treating soldiers with mild traumatic brain injury, known as brain sprain. >> your mission when you're with me is to sleep, relax, and get better. >> reporter: specialist nick mckee was inside his base when an insurgent rocket exploded less than 20 feet away from him. he escaped without a scratch but quickly knew something was not right. >> i felt nauseous all that day and pretty much had headaches ever since. >> reporter: and what else? >> trouble sleeping. mainly. trying to go on like it didn't happen. that's probable the hardest part. >> reporter: despite incredible developments with blast-resistant vehicles like this one, traumatic brain injury is still the most common injury on the battlefield. in the last 10 years, more than 320,000

inside syria-- charissa ward takes us to an underground hospital where rebels, wounded by assad's armyare treated in secret. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. no white house has ever overruled a safety recommendation we the foo food d drug administration but it happened today. the question was whether the morning after pill, an emergency contraceptive, should be available over the counter to girls 16 and under. today, the f.d.a. was ready to say yes but the president's secretary of health and human services said no.