Page 12 - QARANC Vol 15 No 2 2017

10 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Ex JORVIK STANDBY
On 21 April 2017, 204 Field Hospital set off to York on Exercise JORVIK STANDBY, our annual camp, to run and maintain a hospital in order for 2 Med Brigade to conduct our Mission Readiness Assessment in preparation for Form Year 5. Here we had to fulfil the requirements of the Key Performance Indicators set by Brigade.
This was my second hospital exercise with the unit but my first exercise working within the emergency department. As I had recently started working in ED I was very excited about the experience I would receive here.
On day one, after a long drive and boat trip, we arrived in the hospital and began to take over our equipment, known as the G4 handover, and then began to set up the ED department. The Vanguard Field Hospital was set up as a 2.1.2.12. This meant there were two Emergency Department beds, one theatre bed, two intensive care beds and twelve ward beds. We received severalbriefsrangingfromfirewithin the hospital, care of the dead, infection control, blood care and management, and of course our operational brief which gave us an operational context and mission for our field hospital.
During the next few days, we quickly became familiar with the hospital and standard operating procedures (SOPs). Everyone in the department took on a specific role such as medication management, infection control and equipment care. Along with this, our 2IC and OC led several
teaching sessions on the SOPs for the Vanguard Field Hospital, the clinical guidelines for operations (CGOs) for care and treatment, and ran through several clinical simulation scenarios before the exercise began.
I felt the team worked well together; we developed roles and responsibilities and performed at a very high level. Throughout the time spent in the Vanguard Field Hospital, I took on the roles of Nurse 1 and 2 and had the responsibility for medicine management link nurse during the exercise. I also learnt new skills such as how to manage the Belmont infuser for rapid blood transfusion and cannulation. Along with the teaching briefs and sessions, we ran through several scenarios ranging from needle stick injuries, amputees to cardiac arrest. We developed our current existing skills and developed new skills.
During Exercise JORVIK STANDBY, I experienced my first Major Medical Incident (MMI), my first triage assessment and dealing with treatment myself. The MMI and the manner with which we dealt with it was impressive. It was efficient and effective, and I gained some valuable skills which I feel I could transfer into my own practice in ED within the NHS. While the rest of the team were dealing with a cardiac arrest, I was able to use the SOPs and CGOs to deal with a needle stick injury effectively. I developed a lot of trauma experience and feel much more confident now going back to work in
Cpl Smyth at triage
my NHS job. I also feel much more confident with the documentation used in a military context, as it is different to the NHS.
EX JORVIK STANDBY also provided exposure to the use of the Trauma Effects Team casualty simulation, giving another dimension to training andensuringthatcasualtysimulation was very realistic.
Overall, HOSPEX was a great learning experience, clinically and professionally developing those who attended. We received very positive feedback about our performance and in addition had great fun and developed our team within ED to make us even better and stronger for the next time or likewise for the real-life situation.
Cpl Swanson 204 Fd Hosp
Ed clinical simulation in action Cpl Swanson, Maj Smyth, Cpl Finnegan