THE NAVY RESERVIST - Royal Australian Navy

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NAVY RESERVIST 14 Amphibious MASH By LEUT Alistair Tomlison THE 1970’s hit television program MASH was about the escapades of a group of US Army medical personnel during the Korean War. Even though it was a comedy, the show also presented the unwavering dedication of its doctors and nurses in difficult circumstances. In many respects Navy’s Primary Casualty Reception Facility (PCRF) operates like MASH. It is mobile, it receives patients via helicopter, it has surgical capabilities and hospital facilities and many of its members have civilian careers but work for Navy as Reservists. The major difference is the PCRF operates on water from HMAS Kanimbla. The ship has Level 3 PCRF capabilities (the highest), and can provide surgery and intensive care support. Providing this specialist care requires a large number of medical personnel with 14 different types of medical skills, from basic medical assistant through to specialist doctors, ensuring genuine interoperability. Exercise Talisman Saber 09 presented an opportunity for the PCRF to be thoroughly tested. Over a three-week period, 26 members of the team undertook daily practice on land, in the air and at sea, to make sure they were ready and able to meet any future demands. The PCRF is divided into three areas and members of the team are allocated to each section according to their particular skills. During a medical emergency, the PCRF will be activated after being directed to receive wounded or injured personnel. It swings into action, beginning with the Aero-Medical Evacuation (AME) team. Consisting of a doctor, critical care nurse and clinical manager, the team will fly to the area, assess the injured and evacuate the most serious cases first. After arriving onboard Kanimbla, the helicopter is met by a triage manager who is responsible for allocating each case to one of the Resuscitation Stations. Each station consists of a doctor, nurse, clinical manager and advanced medical assistant, and their role is to prepare the most serious cases for surgery, placement in the High Dependency Unit and provide general medical care to less serious cases. PCRF senior medical officer, CMDR Ian Young, said: “For cases requiring surgery, we have one dedicated operating theatre with a potential to upgrade to two. Our ability to assist those seriously ill or injured is very advanced.” After the patient’s condition has been stabilised, they are transferred to onshore medical facilities, thereby allowing the PCRF to receive new cases. “The PCRF is a great example of the sophisticated way Navy is able to deal with a mass casualty situation, and this is why our expertise was so important to the recent peacekeeping and humanitarian aid missions in East Timor, the Solomon Islands and Indonesia,” CMDR Young said. The PCRF relies heavily on Reservists, making up to half of the medical complement. Kanimbla’s PCRF team take a well-deserved break during Exercise Talisman Saber 09. Photo: ABIS Evan Murphy. OIC of the PCRF LCDR Don Jamieson said: “Naval Reservists bring with them irreplaceable experience, having worked for many of Australia’s largest hospitals. Our aim is to provide first class care, so having personnel from first class civilian hospitals is vital to our continuing success.” The Navy Reservist - ISSUE #2
NAVY RESERVIST 15 Variety the spice of life in the MEAO THE REQUIREMENTS of the ADF are providing more and more opportunities for naval reservists to spread their wings. Typical of these is PREL officer LEUT Andrew Silver who deployed to the Middle East Area of Operations and found himself engaged in everything from providing PA support to the Deputy Prime Minister to chasing pirates in the Gulf of Aden. LEUT Silver, who is a solicitor with the Melbourne law firm Stynes Dixon, was destined for a naval career. He was commissioned in 2007; the same year, his father, CMDR John Silver retired after 38 years as a Reserve medical officer. “I was delighted and very proud when Andrew was commissioned as an officer in the RANR and also with his subsequent enthusiasm for the Service,” CMDR Silver said. “He has been fortunate to have been offered an operational deployment as important as Operation Slipper so early in his naval career. The experience will stand him in good stead for both his civilian work as a lawyer and his career in the Navy.” On his first operational overseas deployment, for six months LEUT Silver found himself in Iraq and Afghanistan and embarked in HMAS Toowoomba during her counter-terrorism and anti-piracy patrols. He was employed as the 2IC of the media operations unit (including six weeks as the OIC) and found himself providing PA support to a range of politicians, including the Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Federal Leader of the Opposition Malcolm Turnbull, a number of former and serving Defence Ministers and Shadow Ministers, CDF ACM Angus Houston and CJOPS LTGEN Mark Evans. “Not surprisingly, this was a great experience,” LEUT Silver said. “By being immersed in the job over the last six months, I have learned a lot about how an operational Headquarters operates; the needs and priorities of those at the tactical and operational levels and the subtleties of working in a ‘purple’ environment.” Following in his father’s foot steps, LEUT Andrew Silver has found his Navy career to be a great experience. LEUT Deidre Smith is a theatre nurse with more than thirty years’ experience. “It is very gratifying teaching local health workers. They are really keen and eager to learn, and their enthusiasm is infectious,” she said. LCDR Neil Smith is a general and respiratory physician. “I volunteered because I was impressed by Navy’s commitment to delivering humanitarian assistance in neighbouring countries,” LCDR Smith said. LCDR Rod McLean is one of the longest-serving members in the RAN. Enlisting in 1968, he rose through the ranks to become a medical administration officer. “The Navy has provided me with many fantastic opportunities to help others,” he said. LEUT Jen Evans is a Registered Nurse at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital. Asked why she had volunteered to serve in Navy she replied: “I heard that there was a shortage of theatre nurses with Navy.” She had not completed her REOC before she deployed on Sumatra Assist. The Navy Reservist - ISSUE #2
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THE NAVY RESERVIST - Royal Australian Navy

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