Medics tested on training exercise
Around 130 Army medics, both Regular and Reserve, have been training together in freezing Cumbrian temperatures; assessing and treating casualties in conditions designed to look and feel like a real-life conflict zone.
Exercise Burton Fell was the first time 3 Medical Regiment’s Regular and Reserve soldiers had worked together on such a scale. The arrangement is an example of the Army’s new integration concept – where full time and Reserve soldiers train together and then deploy together on operations.
The medics spent days living and working under canvas deep within Cumbria’s Warcop military training area in temperatures as low as -2 °C. They worked with actors, many of them amputees, and medical effects specialists to simulate some of the most traumatic injuries they might face on military operations.
Corporal Denis Murphy, from St Helens, Merseyside, added: “We’ve seen everything on this exercise from traumatic injuries to dental care. We’re here to build a better relationship with our Reservists and make sure the skills we each have work well together. It’s been good to work with the Reservist medics, they’ve brought a lot of civilian medical experience with them because some are doctors and nurses in the NHS.”
The Regiment’s role on military operations is to provide pre-hospital care for personnel anywhere in the world; fulfilling the roles of a GP surgery, NHS walk-in centre or hospital A&E – but from tents near to the battlefield.
Private Andrew Jones, from Birmingham and a former broadband salesman turned Army medic, said: “In civilian terms, I’m almost like a paramedic who works on the front line to provide life-saving treatment. I get a lot out of being an Army medic: self-pride, the knowledge that I’m doing an important job which can save lives, and the discipline you get from performing as part of a team capable of achieving anything.”
The personnel of 3 Medical Regiment, which has its headquarters in Preston, Lancashire, provide first aid, resuscitation and ambulance transport for front-line forces. It has four squadrons, two of which are made up of Army Reservists; 64 Squadron, which is based in Chorley, Lancashire, and 251 Squadron based in Sunderland.
Lieutenant Colonel Aidy Meredith, Commanding Officer of 3 Medical Regiment, said: “We’ve got some very competent Reservist soldiers that will add to the competence we have within our Regular soldiers, and one of the most satisfying things I’ve seen this week is how well they’ve all blended together; they’re all getting out to deliver healthcare on the ground.”
They will work side by side again on a similar exercise in Kenya later this year, after which they will be expected to deploy on operations together anywhere around in the world.
