Page 27 - QARANC Vol 14 No 13 2016

award of MSc. Approval for attendance will need to be gained at Unit level. This Research Forum aims to enhance a culture of research, audit, service evaluation and publication amongst military and civilian nurses that is a fundamental component of Def Prof Nurse’s strategy for ADMN.
Further information can be gained from Ms Karen Nicholls, Admin Officer ADMN (SG-DMed-MedD-AO-C@mod.uk).
Maj Gaby Smyth, Lt Ashley George, Pte Rebecca Smith 204 Field Hospital (Belfast).
THE GAZETTE QARANC 25
Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2016
Staff Sergeant Beech has supported Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) medical training at the Defence CBRN Centre (DCBRNC) for nearly ten years now and has been unswerving in his loyalty and commitment to delivering exceptionally high quality training. As Defence’s nursing lead for CBRN medical he has been instrumental, within DCBRNC’s Medical Faculty, in driving forward the development of doctrine, training and equipment capability.
He has proved to be a consistently exceptional instructor. His depth and breadth of CBRN Medical knowledge and practical experience is impressive which he applies to great effect. Although he has a forensically detailed understanding of the subject matter, he is able to distil the information down into an easily understandable format and tailored to the particular training audience; it is this skill that underpins his superb instructional credentials. The training audience at DCBRNC ranges from those with no prior medical training to current practicing clinicians. That he can comfortably and authoritatively deliver medical training to all audiences marks him out from his peers and as a result has directly contributed to the DCBRNC Medical Faculty being considered one of the best in class among NATO nations. Of particular note are his patience, understanding and tact that has drawn much positive comment from the receiving international students; delivering technical subject matter to an audience whose first language is not English is challenging but one he relishes and excels at.
Operation GRITROCK drew most of the faculty’s manpower away for an extended period, leaving Staff Sergeant Beech as the sole clinician able to deliver training. Whilst there was minor disruption, he managed to maintain a remarkable training tempo and this mitigated against what could have been a significant gap in Defence’s
CBRN Medical capability. Delivery of medical care in the event of a CBRN incident will play a significant part in mitigating the effects and as such is a critical element in the Return to Contingency and in the contemporary operating environment. As such, his supreme efforts in maintaining the training output are directly contributing to operational risk reduction across Defence. It should be noted that this commitment is all the more remarkable given that this is very much a secondary duty, his primary one being located at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.
In 2015, he graduated from the University of Cardiff with the Diploma of Medical Toxicology as well as completing the US Advanced Radiation Medicine Course. This commitment to continued professional development positions him well to contribute authoritatively in those subject forums,
often with very much more senior officers, to the benefit of Defence medicine generally. During all of these additional activities, Staff Sergeant Beech has managed to maintain a high level of clinical excellence which was put to the test when, in an emergency, he was forced to single deliver his second child!
Irrespective of whether he is working in the NHS environment, academia or instructing, Staff Sergeant Beech’s drive, and achievement of excellence, never falters. His commitment and loyalty to Defence and DCBRNC are absolute, both of which would be much poorer without him. Much of this additional commitment goes unnoticed in the wider AMS community which is why I have no hesitation in recommending him for formal recognition.
Sgt Beech