War zones medical unit opens in Inverness

Glasgow-based 205 Field Hospital now has a centre in the Highland capital, training medics in the latest trauma techniques.

The unit has been set up after long consultation with the local health boards.

Lt Col Stephen McGhee, the senior nursing officer in charge, said: “The Army Medical Service (AMS) works very closely with the local health boards.

“We have strong ties with them, as most members of our unit work within the NHS.

“In our meetings we were able to explain how it would work, how they would be very involved in any deployment of medical personnel.”

He explained that, due to the nature of the day job, medics do not deploy for months, in the same way that a soldier would, and would return home with enhanced skills.

He said: “A doctor would typically deploy for twelve weeks, three of which would be training prior to going out, six weeks there and then three week’s holiday at the end.

“In their short stint, a doctor will see more trauma injuries than they might do in a year’s service in the NHS.”

Lt Col McGhee added that this knowledge and experience would be taken back to the UK and would help the patients they see as doctors, nurses, physios and radiographers in their local hospitals.

He said: “We would like to think that we have helped improve the trauma service. Certainly vascular surgery has been pushed forward.”

The treatment of casualties in the field has led to changes in the way that accident victims are dealt with back home in Scotland.

Ambulances now carry blood and the reintroduction of tourniquets to handle large scale blood loss has resulted from the AMS’s experience in the Middle East.

A reception to signal the launch took place last night (Wed) for members of the medical community and was also attended by local MP Danny Alexander.