CLOTHES – Military Uniforms

L-R: Lance Corporal Fiona Ross; Capt Robert Garbett; Private Megan Paynter. --- BRITISH ARMY MEDICS HELP SHAPE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE IN HELMAND A trio of British Army medics serving in Afghanistan’s Helmand province have taken time out from their usual role providing life-saving treatment – to teach their skills to a group of Afghan nurses, who will form the basis of a pioneering new ambulance service. Five local nurses from the provincial capital Lashkar Gah have just completed a nine-day course to qualify as ‘patient transfer specialists’. The course is part of an ongoing effort to train up enough nurses to enable the launch of the first ever professional ambulance service in the city. Medics Captain Robert Garbett (48), from Shrewsbury, Shropshire; Lance Corporal Fiona Ross (22), from Saline, Fife; and Private Megan Paynter (19), from Lowestoft, Suffolk, gave the five Afghans instruction in some of the techniques used by paramedics in the UK. Injured locals are often brought to the military-run medical centre for initial treatment and then, once they are stabilised, transferred to a locally run hospital. But the nearest hospital is a 15-minute drive away and the aim is to improve the care of patients on this journey. The initiative has been organised by Helmand’s Directorate of Health in conjunction with the UK-led Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team. In addition to the training course run by the three Army medics over a period of three weeks, the PRT has also produced a handbook which has been translated into the Afghan language of Dari. And training is not the only way that the UK is supporting the provision of an ambulance service in Lashkar Gah. In recent days, the team has also handed over around £1,500 worth of ambulance equipment – enough to fit out three vehicles with spinal boards, head locks, resuscitation equipment, splints and other items, turning them from ordinary vans into ambulances. Mohammad Hanif, one of the participant

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