Page 29 - QARANC Spring 2024

Paediatric Nure Lt Kate Heslop delivering teaching to personnel from Joint Hospital Group South East (JHGSE)
the ‘Paediatric Blast Injury Manual’ (googleable) which is Defence endorsed, and the all-important ‘Age on a Page’ document – Defence owned - available in the Clinical Guidelines for Operations. We also promote the use of PANDO for reach-back support: ‘DCA Paediatrics’ team and ‘DMS Paediatrics’ Forum, for both nursing and medical support.
Discussions are underway to reintroduce a sustainable ‘Paediatric Nursing Support to Deployed Ops’ type course again, as was run until a few years ago.
My advice to readers who look after children on Ops is please submit a DURAL for any challenges you face – whether about equipment availability or any other aspect of your ability to provide a high standard of care. The more detail you include, the better for us to make adaptations and improvements.
One day we hope to deploy with our military colleagues, to provide direct care to children, teach and support our colleagues ‘on the job’ – by far the best way to learn, and to help our adult-trained colleagues provide care to injured or ill adults as
Paediatric Nurses Lt Bradley Setchell, Capt Anna Webb, Capt Louise Jones delivering a study day at 2 Med Regt
The Gazette QARANC Association 29
It is important professionally and morally to all of us that we support our families
required, with their support. Currently the paediatric nurses are held at 180 days readiness. Hopefully that will (significantly) reduce in the future.
Finally, let’s not forget the very many children of serving families – including the 6,000+ currently deployed overseas, with the ‘normal’ spectrum and incidence of physical and mental health issues as the rest of the comparable population. It is important professionally and morally to all of us that we support our families – often whose support networks are broken each time they are posted to a new job / Op – and help them get support when they need it.
I now proudly handover the SNA role to Capt Anna Webb, a Paediatric Advanced Nurse Practitioner in London. 5474web@armymail.mod.uk
I am also happy to be contacted at any time and will continue to lead on recruitment to the cadre for now, so if you know anyone who may be interested, please get them to contact me on 2215jone@armymail.mod.uk
Capt Louise Jones