Page 36 - Mercian Eagle Year of 2023

Regimental Aid Post – Ex SARMIS
Sgt Jakob Ricketts
The Carpathian Mountains loomed overhead, as soldiers and officers from C (Kohima) Company fought their way through the unrelenting incline, and thick forestry, all the while the CMTs of 1 MERCIAN’s RAP were clambering up those hillsides in tow.
Ex SARMIS saw C Company deploy to Romania, alongside specialised mountain troops from the United States Army
10th Mountain Division and hosted with Romania’s own 2nd Mountain Troops Brigade, both highly qualified and skilled for fighting in such treacherous conditions, but C Company were more than up for
the challenge. Supporting the fighting efforts, three CMTs were deployed into the platoons. CMTs in this environment are met with unique challenges that you will not face in your average exercises. Evacuation timelines become crucial, as helicopters cannot land close because the steep slopes do not allow for it, wheeled vehicles cannot fight their way through the thousands of trees, so the CMTs put in painstaking efforts to ensure that every rifleman could build a makeshift stretcher whilst on the ground. Alongside this, CMTs were carrying huge amounts of equipment, on the off chance that they were stranded, and had to hold patients for extended periods. Each medic was carrying up to 35 kilograms of medical equipment alone, all on the off chance that someone might need their help. All the while, doing training with the Team Medics, liaising with all members of the company.
The forward medics, working alongside their American colleagues, trained on the
operation of Blackhawk medevac, with the Voodoo Dustoff Medical Team. Finding level ground to practise loading, unloading, and treating patients whilst in the air. Some of the medics were even lucky enough to get a lift off the top of the mountain back to firm base!
Back at A2 Echelon, medics were
also working alongside their Romanian counterparts. Patients were brought through with every battle injury that could be thrown at them, and the language barrier was fought through to protect the lives of the patients. CMTs that worked alongside the Field Hospital were presented with a commendation for the efforts that they put into assisting with the Romanian validation.
Ex SARMIS was a challenge in many ways; from traversing the ground, to
performing medical procedures whilst struggling to talk to those around you. But the medics from 1 MERCIAN took the challenge in their stride and ensured the safety of the troops around them.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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