Page 109 - Mind, Body and Spirit 2016/17

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PRIMARY CARE REHABILITATION FACILITY DHEKELIA
By the time my feet had touched the oor after managing the initial workload since arriving as the new ERI on island in September 2016,
it was clear to see that the next two years were not going to be the dream ‘sunshine tour’ as everybody perceives Cyprus to be. As the ERI, I am responsible for the delivery of rehabilitation for Dhekelia Station and the resident infantry battalion (RIB) 2nd Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (2 PWRR) which amounts to a demographic of around 2500 pax which includes dependants. Tasking’s come thick and fast, from organising Battle eld Tours, to organising and delivering the new Defence Occupational Fitness (DOFit) course, to introducing a new ‘Injury Prevention’ scheme for both military personnel and dependants.
Since qualifying as a Defence Health and Wellbeing Advisor, I have had the opportunity to actually deliver the new DOFit course which was a lot easier to organise and deliver than expected, due to the excellent online resources provided by WO1 (SMI) Daz O’Donnell RAPTC and his team back in the UK. The course ran in Jan 17 and was attended by 14 soldiers, all of whom were determined in creating lifestyle changes in order to become healthier, tter and stronger. The course ran exceptionally well with all the students interacting and participating throughout the course; the evidence that the rst course here in Cyprus was successful can be seen in the eight week post course BMI data which is nothing more
than impressive when you compare the week one and week eight data! Commendable effort from all students especially those who are now passing their MATT 2 tests!
On arrival of a new Commanding Of cer of the RIB, his focus was on improving the Battalion’s downgraded statistics. So with continued communication from the RIB RAPTCI, SSgt (SSI) Mark MacLaughlan RAPTC, the chain of command and our medical assets, the stats soon improved to a worthy 85% MFD rate which continues to climb. This is impressive for such a large Infantry Battalion! In addition to this, I have now introduced with the help from the physios of course, a new
injury prevention programme open to all of the Station, the RIB and dependants. The aim being to further reduce the units stats by addressing all the common MSKI ndings seen here within the PCRF in a twice weekly rehab based session; ‘Prevention is always better than the cure!’
Even though the workload is challenging; this has no bearing on how good life actually is in general. Especially with all the opportunities for AT across the island; from the heights of Troodos down to the lows of the beach at Konnos Bay and all the great guys and girls you get to share these places with. This is especially great as it is the time of year where we see Cyprus starting to warm up.
Sgt (SI) A Spencer RAPTC
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