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Registered Charity United Kingdom No 226682 Spain No G54288329
Afghan Angel
MERT teams save lives in Afghanistan
06 September 2010
“With MERT we can take an element of a hospital to the casualty - in effect it is a flying A&E in the back of a Chinook. We can provide very effective pain relief and transfuse blood pre-hospital treatment - and that can make a lot of difference.”
Saving lives is in the blood of Flt Lt Vanessa Miles, who is presently on
operations in Afghanistan working with the RAF Medical Emergency
Response Team (MERT).
She is the daughter of a nurse, has a sister who was a nurse and the
41-year-old from Eastbourne in East Sussex has been an emergency
nurse since 1994, joining the RAF two years ago.
Such training and family ties has stood her in good stead for her
current role on Operation Herrick… on one emergency shout her
team had to pick up five Afghan civilians who had been severely
injured in a blast from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
She said: “We are working in the area of operations in Helmand and go out to all ISAF military, Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan National Police (ANP) and any Afghan nationals - both adults and children.
“There are a lot of local nationals who have been casualties as a result of IEDs which can be very traumatic.”
A MERT team consists of a medical officer, two paramedics and an emergency nurse, backed up by Gunners from the RAF Regiment providing Force Protection (FP). All will be flown to the casualty when the call comes in, in the back of a Chinook that is kitted out with an extensive range of life-saving equipment.
In the back of the Chinook, the emergency nurse wears a flying helmet so she will be on comms within the aircraft, and hear the info that is being passed from the ground through the command chain to the aircrew. That info will include the number of casualties and the nature of their injuries.
“The pilots are very adept at flying tactically and the Chinook has armour protection. We will get updates on the situation and what is happening on the ground. I actually feel very safe on the back of the helicopter, and the medics on board are very experienced,” she said.
“It is certainly the most rewarding work I have done.”
Flt Lt Miles had good training for her work in the RAF, having provided ‘expedition medicine’ for the Raleigh International charity in remote areas of Chile and Borneo, and working in a hill clinic in India.
She will join the Tactical Medical Wing (TMW) at RAF Lyneham on her return from Afghanistan.
“I got into emergency medicine as no two days are the same. I don’t get an adrenaline rush but I certainly like the variety,” she said.
“The thing that really makes the MERT job so much more rewarding is that we are helping the guys on the ground. We have the luxury of coming back to Camp Bastion at the end of a shout, but those guys stay out there. They work hard for us and it’s nice to go out and help them when they do end up in trouble.”
MERT teams save lives in Afghanistan
06 September 2010
“With MERT we can take an element of a hospital to the casualty - in effect it is a flying A&E in the back of a Chinook. We can provide very effective pain relief and transfuse blood pre-hospital treatment - and that can make a lot of difference.”
Saving lives is in the blood of Flt Lt Vanessa Miles, who is presently on
operations in Afghanistan working with the RAF Medical Emergency
Response Team (MERT).
She is the daughter of a nurse, has a sister who was a nurse and the
41-year-old from Eastbourne in East Sussex has been an emergency
nurse since 1994, joining the RAF two years ago.
Such training and family ties has stood her in good stead for her
current role on Operation Herrick… on one emergency shout her
team had to pick up five Afghan civilians who had been severely
injured in a blast from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
She said: “We are working in the area of operations in Helmand and go out to all ISAF military, Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan National Police (ANP) and any Afghan nationals - both adults and children.
“There are a lot of local nationals who have been casualties as a result of IEDs which can be very traumatic.”
A MERT team consists of a medical officer, two paramedics and an emergency nurse, backed up by Gunners from the RAF Regiment providing Force Protection (FP). All will be flown to the casualty when the call comes in, in the back of a Chinook that is kitted out with an extensive range of life-saving equipment.
In the back of the Chinook, the emergency nurse wears a flying helmet so she will be on comms within the aircraft, and hear the info that is being passed from the ground through the command chain to the aircrew. That info will include the number of casualties and the nature of their injuries.
“The pilots are very adept at flying tactically and the Chinook has armour protection. We will get updates on the situation and what is happening on the ground. I actually feel very safe on the back of the helicopter, and the medics on board are very experienced,” she said.
“It is certainly the most rewarding work I have done.”
Flt Lt Miles had good training for her work in the RAF, having provided ‘expedition medicine’ for the Raleigh International charity in remote areas of Chile and Borneo, and working in a hill clinic in India.
She will join the Tactical Medical Wing (TMW) at RAF Lyneham on her return from Afghanistan.
“I got into emergency medicine as no two days are the same. I don’t get an adrenaline rush but I certainly like the variety,” she said.
“The thing that really makes the MERT job so much more rewarding is that we are helping the guys on the ground. We have the luxury of coming back to Camp Bastion at the end of a shout, but those guys stay out there. They work hard for us and it’s nice to go out and help them when they do end up in trouble.”
Flt Lt Vanessa Miles