Page 25 - MERCIAN Eagle 2019

Some of the Company’s downgraded soldiers undergo a Wattbike session tailored to increase their fitness whilst making provision for their injuries. Sgt / Graham Strong / Bulford / 11 Jan 19.
Rehabilitation in C Coy
2Lt Mitch Woodward
Throughout 2019 the main effort of C (Meeanee) Coy has been to rehabilitate injured individuals to full fitness so that they can return to work within one of the other companies. To achieve this, the Company was completely re-structured in January. Following an injury, a soldier is assessed by the Regimental Medical Officer, Maj Taylor, and if necessary a physiotherapist. If their injury will stop them completing their principal task, they become medically downgraded. Every month, the Battalion holds a Unit Health Committee where we consider all downgraded soldiers; if it is felt at this point that they would benefit from the dedicated rehabilitation approach of
C Company then they are transferred to us. We differ from the other companies
in several ways. Firstly, our dedicated
programme allows the time and space for all downgraded personnel to complete
two sessions in the gym per day. One of these is for general fitness, tailored to their restrictions. These have been ably led by our dedicated PTIs: Cpl Martin Kelsall and Cpl Tristan Willis. The second is injury- specific. The Company has been very fortunate to have welcomed a dedicated Exercise and Rehabilitation Instructor, Sgt Ben ‘Bobby’ Charlton, who works with the physiotherapists from the Primary Care Rehabilitation Facility (PCRF) at Tidworth
to devise a structured plan for each
injured soldier. This plan is then conducted under Sgt Charlton’s supervision as part
of the Company’s individual rehabilitation sessions. Progress is continuously monitored, with the plan gradually adjusted as the individual recovers. This ensures that the balance is struck between exercises
to strengthen the injury and allowing the body time to heal. This approach has proven successful across the Army’s training establishments, in organisations such as Lucknow Platoon in Sandhurst and Waterloo Coy in ITC Catterick. By keeping on top of the injury and allowing recovery to become the focus for the injured person, through removing them from a conventional job role briefly, it allows recovery to take place and the risk of re-injury or worsening
the injury to be minimised. This does not mean the end to conventional training whilst in C Coy however.
Whilst in C Coy injured personnel still conduct valuable individual training and personal development, to better enable them to progress when they return to full fitness. In addition to mandatory individual military training, we have focussed on getting our injured personnel driving and educational qualifications. This has allowed our soldiers to broaden their potential by completing courses that fit in with their recovery pathway and ultimately make them better, more rounded soldiers upon their return to a fully deployable role in another company. Rehabilitation and recovery can take its toll on an individual’s morale and
we take this into account when planning training to ensure that it is valuable and enjoyable. For example, in October two of our injured JNCOs, Cpl Daniel Bott and LCpl Conor Edmunds, planned a visit to Fort Nelson to increase the Company’s knowledge of the history of our Army
and the role of the Mercian Regiment’s antecedents in the Peninsula campaign.
Rehabilitation and recovery are processes which can take a long time, so rapid results are not guaranteed. However, by adopting our focussed approach, C Company have upgraded over a whole platoon’s worth of soldiers this year, in most cases accelerating their recovery by months. These troops have then reinforced other Companies
and helped take up some of the strain across the multiple tasks facing the rest
of the Battalion. Arriving in the Company following an injury I received on my platoon commander’s course, I can honestly say that the Meeanee approach works fantastically.
It has been a pleasure to work with our
lads in getting back to full fitness, and my personal recovery timeline has been slashed due to the focussed rehabilitation which has been available to me. Our structure is so successful that we are almost in danger of putting ourselves out of a job: at the time
of writing we have been so successful that we are only working with about a section’s worth of downgraded soldiers!
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
individual to revel in what they were capable of doing by demanding high physical performance, in a variety of challenging environments. The broad range of activity allowed us to ensure that everyone, regardless of limitations, could push themselves both physically and mentally throughout the course of the exercise.
The exercise was made possible with assistance from instructors
and students across the Battalion, Regimental HQ who provided financial assistance from the Mercian Regiment Sports and Adventure Training Fund (MRSATF), Weymouth-based company Adventure4all, ATGA and all the amazing staff at WTRA Chickerall camp who supported us 100% of the way.
We were met with positive feedback from our students who put 100% effort into all the activities. Some even put a little too much effort into the mountain biking, feeling the trail bite back on occasion! It was an exceptional week of training benefiting both students and instructors alike and ultimately contributed towards enhancing the fighting power of 1 MERCIAN this year.
Taking a leap into the unknown: coasteering off Portland on Ex FIGHTING FIT. Sgt / MacAlpine-Gasse / Portland / 10 May 19.
23