Military Healthcare Round-up: January 2012

on Jan 27 by admin

A round-up of the military healthcare stories making the news in January 2012.

Military medics pick up awards at New Year Honours

January 2012 started with a celebration of military and civilian achievements in the New Year Honours. A number of military medical personnel were among those to receive recognition for their work, including Colonel Mark Byers of the Royal Army Medical Corps and Colonel Jane Elizabeth Davis QVRM TD DL of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, Territorial Army, who both received the OBE.

Pioneering military healthcare partnership celebrates first year

Also celebrating this month were the staff of a pioneering military-civilian healthcare partnership based at the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre (SRMRC) was launched in January 2011. Its aim is to use the knowledge and experience gained in treating injured military casualties, for the benefit of civilian patients.

Combat Trauma 2012

The big event on the military healthcare calendar for January was Combat Trauma Innovation 2012. The event is the leading conference on trauma for the military and civilian healthcare community, providing a space for sharing knowledge, experience and developments in combat trauma. Attendees at this year’s event were even able to participate in ‘hands-on’ events, exploring the latest equipment innovations.

Combat Trauma Innovation 2012 brought together healthcare practitioners from more than twenty-two countries. The UK Surgeon General addressed the conference with a speech on continuing improvements in trauma care and the importance of the MOD’s partnership with the NHS.

Medical centres for Afghan children

The RAF chose January to share the story of RAF Reserve Medic Squadron Leader Colin Mathieson who has spent his time in Afghanistan establishing life-saving medical centres for Afghan children.

Training for military medics

A tri-service team of medics has been spending January preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. Regular, reservist and international medics took part in the training in a realistic mock-up of the Camp Bastion hospital, complete with amputee actors playing the role of trauma patients.

And they weren’t the only medics taking part in rigorous training; this month also saw military doctors and nurses from Britain, France and Norway take part in a submarine rescue exercise, designed to test the capabilities of the NATO submarine rescue system.