Page 35 - QARANC Vol 14 No 6 2013

This summer personnel from 23 Sqn, 16 Medical Regiment deployed to Kenya to undertake Ex ASKARI THUNDER 1 in support of 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment.
The exercise got off to a fantastic start when a few of us boarded the Virgin Atlantic flight at RAF Brize Norton to find that we had profited as we were given first class seats. These fully reclined into beds making them the most comfortable place on the plane. The whole experience was made even sweeter as, every time I got up to go to the toilet and looked down the plane I would see everyone else’s faces looking miserable at being stuck with no leg room for the duration of the eight and a half hour journey.
I took on a number of roles whilst on the exercise including company medic, providing medical cover during the live firing stages and working as part of Med Troop in the final stage of the exercise. I found all roles rewarding and gained a great deal of experience of primary healthcare in a tropical environment.
Primarily focussed on Infantry training objectives, the exercise had
little kit to be spared for casualty play by clinically trained Directing Staff to assess us. However, I do still feel that we all managed to get some value from the exercise.
Through providing live medical cover throughout we were able to get involved with situations and medical problems which we don’t usually encounter. We saw numerous insect, spider and snake bites, scorpion stings and rashes. One of the most nerve racking experiences I dealt with was when one of the attached arms was stung by a scorpion and transport was hours out. All I could do was administer what medication I had and observe him with an Adrenalin auto jet in my pocket ready to go, if required. I’m happy to say that the patient didn’t have a severe reaction to the poison and in the end he was fine, just in a lot of pain for a few hours.
Within hours of landing in Nairobi, Cpl Richards and Pte Haines and I were called to respond to an RTC in which a soldier had rolled his FFR 30 meters down a very steep embankment. We managed to extricate the soldier and he was air lifted to a local hospital in
Nairobi. Cpl Richards managed to take a picture of myself in front of the helicopter just before it took off from the scene of the accident. The helicopter we quickly attracted a sizable crowd which hampered transferring and treating the casualty.
Needless to say it was very hot for most of the exercise, reaching temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius at times during the day. However, I would strongly recommend that anyone going in the future take their ‘bouncing bomb’ as well as their jungle sleeping bag. Due to the altitude of Turaco Farm and Nanyuki, the nights are freezing in comparison to daytime temperatures and you will be a lot more comfortable in a proper sleeping bag.
We spent quite a lot of time in Turaco Farm and those of you who decide to visit the Curio shops, be prepared to be hassled from the moment you step out of the camp gates right up until the second you get back. The locals are so desperate for your business that they will not leave your side and need constant reminding to not touch you. However, if you feel that you can put up with the annoyance, I would strongly recommend that you visit these places as they sell some very nice wooden and stone carvings as well as jewellery for your partner. It’s always nice to get a couple of souvenirs.
It wasn’t all work, work, work. We managed to get some time at a couple of the wildlife lodges during some quiet time in one of the live firing stages and again at the end of Adventurous Training. This where we had a Mexican standoff with a heard of wildebeest, saw a four meter long reticulated python, climbed a volcano, went on a boat trip to see hippos and almost got killed by a horse. But more importantly, this was when two of the Medics managed to drink a whole rifle company under the table and were in a better state than them in the morning. Cpl Hughes
QARANC 16 Med Regt
THE GAZETTE QARANC 33
Ex Askari Thunder 1 2012
Even Cpl Richards’ chat isn’t sufficient to drive the crowds back
‘Don’t worry about the casualty get a photo of me before the ‘chopper’ leaves.’