Page 24 - QARANC Vol 15 No 1 2017

22 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Defence Medical Group (South East)
Exercise Tiger Frimley Alpine
Defence Medical Group (South East), based at Frimley Park hospital in Aldershot, recently embarked on a unit exercise to Morzine, France on a Ski foundation course. 13 personnel from the unit drove over to France to take part in SF1 and SF2.
Once we arrived in our chalet (kindly provided by some funds from the RAF) we took to the slopes, some for the first time. Some were trying to learn the ropes of skiing but by the sounds of it were mostly finding themselves on the floor; even a PTI was nicknamed ‘Bambi’ after day one.
We skied all over Morzine enjoying some fantastic views of France and learning new skills every day, including getting off a ski lift without falling, the almighty snow plough, moguls and even a black run. After a few days both groups skied over into Switzerland for some amazing views and to work on our boarder cross skills, which proved very entertaining – for some. We also had the opportunity to see the Swiss wall, a
slope with a 90% downhill gradient and moguls the size of houses! We will all be attempting this next year, or maybe not!
Some of the group also had the opportunity to take part in touring (uphill walking with skis on) which we actually all found more enjoyable than first anticipated. One of our instructors taught us about the dangers of avalanches, including how to take safety precautions by assessing the different levels of snow, actions to
take if avalanche occurs and how to locate someone buried in avalanche. In the evenings we had a lesson on the maintenance of skies, including waxing, storage and how to adjust bindings. We were lucky enough to have two good instructors who made the trip educational but fun. Everyone in both groups improved by the end of the week and everyone managed to leave with a skiing foundation qualification.
Cpl Sherman QARANC
Defence Medical Group (South East)
Jordan
The aim of any exercise is to test individual components of a process, in this case the air deliverability of a 2/1/2/12 facility into an austere environment, where there can be only one chance to correctly pack all modules, all tatchems, all Isos, seal and air deliver them without any mishaps.
I was one of three individual augmentees from DMGSE; we went from the nucleus of our clinical role, were propelled 48 hrs later into the desert kingdom of Jordan. Jordan’s significance to British Army training results not only from its location (which is further away than Salisbury Plain while still being one of the safest areas in the Middle East) but also for its bonds of friendship with the US, UK and Israel (important for the Arab and non-Arab peace agreement).
We were under the command of 34 Field Hospital (York) who made no distinction between their own personnel, IAs, Reservists and one Kiwi nurse from the Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps. Our forty woman tent was a melting pot of accents and assents of friendships and after a due period of acclimatisation, good food and the liberty of going for runs outside the wire, it was clear that this was unlike previous tours of Afghanistan. This was a more hospitable place, and though the air was hot and the mountains surrounded us in an isolated desert, we carried on for the next few days in the fervour with which the place and the unit had greeted us.
The build was conducted with enterprise and done in manageable chunks from start to finish and was completed in approximately 12.5 hrs, about the same time spent on a shift back home chasing doctors to write me a prescription. Many of us join the Army to travel and volunteer to go on exercise for the contrast it provides, not only by way of environment, but for the work we do once there. One day in the office felt comparatively harder than two days of physical labour.
This was the main effort over. Next came the logical but necessary scenarios of fake casualties to test the hospital and its logistics, should a real deployment arise. Privy to our presence and efforts were the General Officer Commanding and King Abdullah 11 of Jordan, each with their own agenda, but King Abdullah’s possibly because Jordan prides itself on its health service among others in the region and was interested in our legendary management of casualties who survive beyond the expectations of ordinary medicine.
The finale ended with a celebration of Corps day and a few promotions that then gave way to two days of cultural visits, including a visit to Petra or the Rose city. During this time in Jordan approximately £100 was raised for Homeless Veterans from a quiz night. After returning home, I have no doubt that 34 will remain in our memory for its excellence and for the new friends that were made.