Page 53 - The Gazette Autumn 2023

The Gazette QARANC Association 53
beach, staying overnight in Tongue Hotel Sutherland. Day four saw us climb the most northerly Munro, Ben Hope. With a total ascent of 945m, distance 7.5km, I would describe it as steep from start and
rocky.
And day five then saw the final climb of the
challenge, Beinn Eighe, a total ascent of 1,185m and distance of 18.5km. It was two Munro peaks with steep ascent path rocky and rough ridges and once again challenging for those with a fear of heights!
Another group then trekked along the rough path below Beinn Eighe and Liathach. They followed the path along the river to start the final descent to the
path through the woodland to the final location in Torridon Village.
As we approached the end of the week, we got a little time to explore and stopped off in Inverness and Fort George for a guided tour and cultural visit to Culloden Battlefield site.
I found this trip very rewarding. I pushed against my fear of heights and gained new friendships on this trip, which has helped me feel more settled within the unit. I am excited to work with a great group of people going forwards.
Cpl Emma Sands, 204 North Irish Field Hospital, Belfast
Experimentation, Operational Healthcare and Multinational Interoperability...
Lt Col Richard Yardley RGN, MSc, MBA, CMgr FCMI, MAPM is an autonomous Nurse Practitioner qualified, Emergency Nursing Officer, having transferred to the Command & Staff Cadre of Military Healthcare. Currently the Commanding Officer of Joint Hospital Group (South)
Project CONVERGENCE 22 was the premier US Army led experimentation exercise, seeking to define how we will fight in a multi-domain battlespace.
The exercise, including UK soldiers from 20 Bde tested cutting-edge systems and technologies, including some for the first time ‘on the ground’. The exercise was more than a singular event, it was a sustained campaign of learning designed to advance and integrate our allied forces - ensuring that we can rapidly and continuously ‘converge’ effects across the battlefield.
The exercise was held at Fort Irwin, USA and was led by the US with representation from the UK and Australia. As a C&S officer,
I led a small team of UK subject matter experts into the Mojave Desert, tasked by Dir Futures to support, develop and exploit tech
opportunities on behalf of the British Army.
PC22 Med systems under test:
HRAPS (Health Readiness & Performance Systems) wearable sensors
BATDOK (Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distrib- uted Observation Kit) networked PHEC clinical management system
MEDHUB US Army application similar to BATDOK
HALO (Health Assessment Light Operations) patient admin, inc sick parade, nursing, pre- scribing, pathology and radiography
LOHIT (Logistics Operational Health Infor- mation Technology) web based Med stores system
Tempus Pro patient monitoring with built in data-centric telemedicine
NETCCN (National Emergency Tele Critical Care Network) medical messaging (similar to PANDO)
Project CRIMSON autonomous resupply UAV with capacity to deliver refrigerated blood via VTOL or parachute out to 400km