The new Florence Nightingales
It is thousands of miles from Britain, in the remote Helmand desert, but is widely considered to be one of our very finest trauma hospitals, providing vital, lifesaving treatment for soldiers, and Afghan civilians wounded in the war zone. In fact, so good is the care at Camp Bastion’s Role 3 Hospital that nearly 99 per cent of the casualties arriving here with a pulse now survive. And women are at the very forefront. From managers and nurses to combat medics, doctors and dentists, these remarkable modern Florence Nightingales are the brave heroines of the wards…
CORPORAL ASHLEY LOWTHER, RAF A&E NURSE WITH THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (MERT)
(pictured above)
‘I’m part of the four-man medical team on one of the Chinook helicopters that evacuates battlefield casualties.
‘As well as being a nurse, I am the communications link between the air crew, Camp Bastion and my team. I have two earpieces – one that has Bastion and the air crew talking, and the other that has my team talking. You have to be pretty sharp, and I have a special face that I pull so my team knows that I’ve got someone on the radio.
‘There is no upper limit to the number of people you can treat on the helicopter. It’s as many as you can fit in. On this tour, the most I’ve had is three, but another crew had nine.
‘We do 24 hours at a time on call. When the siren goes off, we can go from drinking a cup of tea to being in the helicopter in one minute. Luckily, I don’t get travel sick.
‘The hardest thing about the job is the sheer physicality. I’m fit enough to be in the military, but I’m not a muscle woman. This job looks sexy to people, but it’s really 10 per cent looking after patients and 90 per cent moving stuff around. It’s a physical job but when I go off duty, I like to put on some make-up.’
CORPORAL KIRSTY CHAPMAN, CAPTAIN MEGAN COOK, CORPORAL LEANNE HENDY, ARMY NURSES
Megan (centre): ‘We treat Afghans in the hospital as well as Western troops. We’ve got an Afghan child here at the moment, so we play lots of football. It’s great, the male relatives all play along.
‘But we also treat the detainees, which can be quite hard when you know why they’re in here and who they’ve attacked. You just have to do your job.
‘On the whole, it’s fine being out here as a woman, although you do notice it more in the gym because there are more boys – and they stare at you a bit.’
Leanne (right): ‘We do shift work, so we do get some time to ourselves. I spend my life at the NAAFI, drinking cappuccinos. I think I’ve had six coffees today already.’
LIEUTENANT COLONEL HEATHER SAUNDERS, SECOND-IN -COMMAND, BASTION HOSPITAL
‘Running the hospital, I work 14-hour days, six days a week. On Sundays, I have a lie-in and come in at 12.
‘I have to be a social worker, too. Many of my staff treat me like a mother figure and I have an opendoor policy. It’s about looking after people, whatever their rank, whatever their problems.
‘Sometimes, however, I have to put a notice on the door, saying “PLEEEASE don’t disturb”. Occasionally, I really do have to get some reports written.
‘My background is in nursing and I joined the army as a reservist in 1997. I was 39. I was married to a serviceman and I just decided it was something for me. This is my third tour and it’s not really getting easier – although it’s less harrowing than 2009 when the casualty rate was horrendous.
‘It’s a very humbling experience working here. Everyone just joins together – something you don’t see as much in civilian life.’
LIEUTENANT COLONEL SANDRA WILLIAMS, PHYSIOTHERAPIST
‘I joined the TA 24 years ago, in 1988, and this is my eighth operational tour.
‘Now, a lot of the injuries I see start in the gym. In fact, I’d like to remove the mirror from the gym, which shows everyone 20 years younger than they actually are, because people keep training like they’re still 18.
‘Being in Afghanistan certainly makes you appreciate what you’ve got. It also makes you realise that there’s not a lot of difference between people around the world. There’s a lot of difference in politics around the world, but not much difference in the people themselves.’
CAPTAIN MANDY ISLAM, OPERATIONS OFFICER AT THE HOSPITAL
‘I have been in the army for 16 years and this is my sixth operational tour. I’ve done Northern Ireland, Bosnia, a couple of Iraqs, two in Afghanistan.
‘Attitudes to women have changed enormously. I joined just before my 17th birthday and it was very much a “them and us” culture. There were few women who were in visible positions of authority. Now they are doing everything, from bomb disposal to flying Apaches.
‘Getting down and dirty is the reason I joined the army – I love adventure. Some of the best moments of my career have involved lying on the desert floor.
‘In fact, one of the worst moments was coming to Bastion and being given an iron. It was a symbol of being in “barracks” rather than out on the ground. It must be one of the hardest things, being in Bastion and not having the opportunity to get out – to just see those mountain peaks in the distance, and not get among them.’
LANCE CORPORAL GRACE McLEOD, COMBAT MEDIC
‘I’m a combat medic for the patrols that go out and deliver supplies to units across Helmand Province. I work out of a Mastiff armoured vehicle – which is like a mini-hospital – and have to deal with everything from headaches to amputations.
‘We see all sorts. Recently, a local crashed a car into one of our armoured vehicles. We had a few casualties, which I helped patch up.
‘Because our forces were involved, the Afghan driver could have been taken back to the hospital in Bastion for treatment, but he chose to go to the local hospital instead.
‘I’ve always wanted to go on tour, but about a month before I came out I began dreading it because I knew how long I’d be away. But it’s been fine. I work with a brilliant team – everybody’s in the same boat, so you stick together.’
MAJOR TRACY HANKS, SECOND-IN-COMMAND, 3 MEDICAL REGIMENT
‘I am ultimately responsible for delivering all of the medical care in all of the forward locations, as far as Kabul.
‘It has been a long love affair with the army. I joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1997.
‘We do work long hours, so there’s not a lot of time to spare, but there is a fantastic Zumba class, which is two hours a week of escapism. I also play the piano for one of Camp Bastion’s churches, St Michael’s – well, I call it playing, although I’m not sure anyone else would.
‘It’s a small community with about 15 Sunday attendees. It was very well attended, however, when one soldier, Corporal Channing Day, was killed last year.
‘Bastion is as comfortable as it can be for women. There are a few more problems when you’re a lady medic living on a patrol base with 30 men, but the women medics are more than up for the challenge.’
LIEUTENANT COLONEL SARAH RAMAGE, SR DENTAL OFFICER
‘My day-to-day job is pretty similar to my job at home, which is fixing broken fillings and teeth, and treating toothache.
‘But you do have to be adaptable. You don’t always have what you want, when you want it. You have to find other ways of doing things.
‘Serving in theatre, you certainly learn tolerance – and a sense of perspective. I was in Iraq in 2007, and it was a particularly unpleasant tour. We had a lot more casualties.
‘When I got home, I remember going to a department store and seeing somebody getting really agitated with the shop assistant.
‘I wanted to say to them, “Get a grip! It really isn’t important.”
‘But I also love how appreciated you can be as a dentist – people are just so happy when you take their toothache away.’
CORPORAL ASHLEY LOWTHER, RAF A&E NURSE WITH THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (MERT)
(pictured above)
‘I’m part of the four-man medical team on one of the Chinook helicopters that evacuates battlefield casualties.
‘As well as being a nurse, I am the communications link between the air crew, Camp Bastion and my team. I have two earpieces – one that has Bastion and the air crew talking, and the other that has my team talking. You have to be pretty sharp, and I have a special face that I pull so my team knows that I’ve got someone on the radio.
‘There is no upper limit to the number of people you can treat on the helicopter. It’s as many as you can fit in. On this tour, the most I’ve had is three, but another crew had nine.
‘We do 24 hours at a time on call. When the siren goes off, we can go from drinking a cup of tea to being in the helicopter in one minute. Luckily, I don’t get travel sick.
‘The hardest thing about the job is the sheer physicality. I’m fit enough to be in the military, but I’m not a muscle woman. This job looks sexy to people, but it’s really 10 per cent looking after patients and 90 per cent moving stuff around. It’s a physical job but when I go off duty, I like to put on some make-up.’
CORPORAL KIRSTY CHAPMAN, CAPTAIN MEGAN COOK, CORPORAL LEANNE HENDY, ARMY NURSES
Megan (centre): ‘We treat Afghans in the hospital as well as Western troops. We’ve got an Afghan child here at the moment, so we play lots of football. It’s great, the male relatives all play along.
‘But we also treat the detainees, which can be quite hard when you know why they’re in here and who they’ve attacked. You just have to do your job.
‘On the whole, it’s fine being out here as a woman, although you do notice it more in the gym because there are more boys – and they stare at you a bit.’
Leanne (right): ‘We do shift work, so we do get some time to ourselves. I spend my life at the NAAFI, drinking cappuccinos. I think I’ve had six coffees today already.’
LIEUTENANT COLONEL HEATHER SAUNDERS, SECOND-IN -COMMAND, BASTION HOSPITAL
‘Running the hospital, I work 14-hour days, six days a week. On Sundays, I have a lie-in and come in at 12.
‘I have to be a social worker, too. Many of my staff treat me like a mother figure and I have an opendoor policy. It’s about looking after people, whatever their rank, whatever their problems.
‘Sometimes, however, I have to put a notice on the door, saying “PLEEEASE don’t disturb”. Occasionally, I really do have to get some reports written.
‘My background is in nursing and I joined the army as a reservist in 1997. I was 39. I was married to a serviceman and I just decided it was something for me. This is my third tour and it’s not really getting easier – although it’s less harrowing than 2009 when the casualty rate was horrendous.
‘It’s a very humbling experience working here. Everyone just joins together – something you don’t see as much in civilian life.’
LIEUTENANT COLONEL SANDRA WILLIAMS, PHYSIOTHERAPIST
‘I joined the TA 24 years ago, in 1988, and this is my eighth operational tour.
‘Now, a lot of the injuries I see start in the gym. In fact, I’d like to remove the mirror from the gym, which shows everyone 20 years younger than they actually are, because people keep training like they’re still 18.
‘Being in Afghanistan certainly makes you appreciate what you’ve got. It also makes you realise that there’s not a lot of difference between people around the world. There’s a lot of difference in politics around the world, but not much difference in the people themselves.’
CAPTAIN MANDY ISLAM, OPERATIONS OFFICER AT THE HOSPITAL
‘I have been in the army for 16 years and this is my sixth operational tour. I’ve done Northern Ireland, Bosnia, a couple of Iraqs, two in Afghanistan.
‘Attitudes to women have changed enormously. I joined just before my 17th birthday and it was very much a “them and us” culture. There were few women who were in visible positions of authority. Now they are doing everything, from bomb disposal to flying Apaches.
‘Getting down and dirty is the reason I joined the army – I love adventure. Some of the best moments of my career have involved lying on the desert floor.
‘In fact, one of the worst moments was coming to Bastion and being given an iron. It was a symbol of being in “barracks” rather than out on the ground. It must be one of the hardest things, being in Bastion and not having the opportunity to get out – to just see those mountain peaks in the distance, and not get among them.’
LANCE CORPORAL GRACE McLEOD, COMBAT MEDIC
‘I’m a combat medic for the patrols that go out and deliver supplies to units across Helmand Province. I work out of a Mastiff armoured vehicle – which is like a mini-hospital – and have to deal with everything from headaches to amputations.
‘We see all sorts. Recently, a local crashed a car into one of our armoured vehicles. We had a few casualties, which I helped patch up.
‘Because our forces were involved, the Afghan driver could have been taken back to the hospital in Bastion for treatment, but he chose to go to the local hospital instead.
‘I’ve always wanted to go on tour, but about a month before I came out I began dreading it because I knew how long I’d be away. But it’s been fine. I work with a brilliant team – everybody’s in the same boat, so you stick together.’
MAJOR TRACY HANKS, SECOND-IN-COMMAND, 3 MEDICAL REGIMENT
‘I am ultimately responsible for delivering all of the medical care in all of the forward locations, as far as Kabul.
‘It has been a long love affair with the army. I joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1997.
‘We do work long hours, so there’s not a lot of time to spare, but there is a fantastic Zumba class, which is two hours a week of escapism. I also play the piano for one of Camp Bastion’s churches, St Michael’s – well, I call it playing, although I’m not sure anyone else would.
‘It’s a small community with about 15 Sunday attendees. It was very well attended, however, when one soldier, Corporal Channing Day, was killed last year.
‘Bastion is as comfortable as it can be for women. There are a few more problems when you’re a lady medic living on a patrol base with 30 men, but the women medics are more than up for the challenge.’
LIEUTENANT COLONEL SARAH RAMAGE, SR DENTAL OFFICER
‘My day-to-day job is pretty similar to my job at home, which is fixing broken fillings and teeth, and treating toothache.
‘But you do have to be adaptable. You don’t always have what you want, when you want it. You have to find other ways of doing things.
‘Serving in theatre, you certainly learn tolerance – and a sense of perspective. I was in Iraq in 2007, and it was a particularly unpleasant tour. We had a lot more casualties.
‘When I got home, I remember going to a department store and seeing somebody getting really agitated with the shop assistant.
‘I wanted to say to them, “Get a grip! It really isn’t important.”
‘But I also love how appreciated you can be as a dentist – people are just so happy when you take their toothache away.’