Page 40 - QARANC Vol 20 No 3 2023

40 The Gazette QARANC Association
QA who took charge in aftermath of suicide attack in Mali, ‘overwhelmed’ by commendation
Meghann Bradbury has been awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service on Operations (QCVS) for her work overseas, including treating the casualties from a suicide attack in Mali, where she was deployed in 2021.
She was ranked Staff Sergeant at the time and deployed to Op Newcombe Roto 2, to represent 34 Field Hospital, where she was assigned the role of the Ground Manoeuvre Surgical Group (GMSG) Sergeant Major.
Mali was an UN peacekeeping operation. However, the French and Germans’ mission was warfighting. Meghann recalls the situation on the ground was “austere at times and kinetic”. The final roto of Mali is currently deployed as we draw down.
Meghann was managing the ‘front of house’ of the surgical facility. The GMSG was attached to the Long- Range Recce Group (LRRG) to provide the ground surgical support to the 2 Royal Anglian Task Group (TG) as well as support partner UN allies operating from the city of Gao.
She recalls: “On the 25 June 2021, a German patrol operating out of Gao, was attacked by a suicide vehicle borne IED (a bomb-laden vehicle driven at the patrol) resulting in 13 combat casualties.
“The GMSG, having just returned to Gao following a patrol, were tasked to treat these casualties within the German Role 1 facility. With no prior knowledge of the German treatment facility or capability we managed to transport our kit and equipment across to the role 1 facility. This soon became a TG effort.
how dedicated and hard working
the team I deployed with were.
I was very lucky to have been a part of that team and would deploy with them all again in a heartbeat
“Once in location it was clear we needed to take the lead, upon implementing a structure to cope with the Major Medical Incident and placing the correct staff in place we were ready to receive casualties. This allowed me to manage and control the front of house, to triage casualties effectively.”
German medics were present but were overwhelmed by the incident, so the GMSG established and set up in their facility. They were initially tasked to support but we ended up taking control and them working alongside us.
It was challenging for the GMSG as some of our soldiers had never treated battle casualties before, however the soldiers’ performances throughout were, in Meghann’s words “exceptional”. She added: “ They maintained professionalism and remained calm throughout. They were obviously worried, but they stayed focused, and I believe the training received from AMTC was second to none which highly prepared the team for such a situation.”
Meghann supported the process of triaging casualties. The team’s pre-deployment training from AMSTC had clearly prepared them well to manage the situation, and Meghann’s previous tours had given her knowledge and experience to think in a logical order and have the confidence to make decisions.
During the MMI it was clear that patient tracking needed to be controlled and the Germans had no clear system in place. This is a system to show the