Page 28 - QARANC Vol 15 No 2 2017

26 QARANC THE GAZETTE
DHE Exercise
COLD WARRIOR 0117
The biannual Department of Healthcare Education (DHE) Exercise took place from 24-26 February 2017 at AMSTC York. This year was the first time that both first year student nurses (a matter of weeks into their training) and third year nurses attended the exercise together.
A First Year Student Nurse Perspective
The bags were packed, goodbyes were said to my family and off I went to my first DHE Exercise. It all started with a late-night brief and then an early morning with a delightful Sodexo breakfast.
As cohort 0117 had only just started in January, this exercise was to remind us of our basic military skills, build upon our leadership skills and to provide an in-depth introduction into how a field hospital works.
We started the weekend off with a round robin of events, all which went towards the overall competition. Our
first events were some basic harbour drills and giving fire orders and to the Mercian’s surprise we easily completed their tasks. Next, we had a command task to complete but we failed miserably, although it turns out that it was impossible anyway!
The evening was filled with clinical skills which is what I was most looking forward to. We started in Intensive care where we had to label as much equipment as possible. This was the first time seeing all the equipment used so we only got a few correct. Afterwards we moved onto the ward where we talked about looking for signs and symptoms in patients. The lack of equipment available compared to a hospital and how important the role of a nurse is, which was good to get a perspective of what I could be doing in the future.
The biomedical scientists also gave us an insight into what equipment they use and how it aids the field hospital. We also got to see the theatre and
how it functions, but the one I most looked forward to was the emergency department. Having done first on scene voluntary work before and talking through the emergency department’s role in a field hospital, it reinforced why I decided to become a nurse in the first place.
The day ended with a Road Traffic Collision where the third year students got to show off their skills and we had an interesting lecture about blood groups. With another early morning, we finally finished with battle PT and the culmination of the section competition.
A Third Year Student Nurse Perspective
During the Exercise, I learnt from various scenarios including; Aeromedical Evacuation of a casualty (in which as an Army nurse, I felt privileged to be involved), a thorough explanation of all aspects of the role of a nurse within a Field Hospital (including CABCDE assessments, surgical teamwork,