I have to say that I am shocked to learn that our troops can take up to 7 hours after being wounded in Afghanistan, and an hour and 50 minutes in Iraq.
This is not how long it takes to get treatment but how long it takes to get them collected from the battlefield. Apparently there is not a dedicated helicopter force to do the job.
The Sunday Telegraph has this, about a report by Lt Col Paul Parker in the Royal Army Medical Corps Journal. It seems that he believes many have died who need not have died for the lack of availability of helicopters dedicated to evacuating the wounded.
It should be noted that whilst we take hours to get a casualty to hospital, in Vietnam the Americans managed to do it on average in 25 minutes. That was 40 years ago.
Whilst the MOD are trying to trash the report Lt Col Paul Parker's colleagues agree, apparently though off the record.
And all this after Tony Blair's promise that our boys in Afghanistan could have whatever they needed. Lying scum.
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3 comments:
I hate Tony Blair. There are not enough black candles in the world to burn ...
The Americans evacuated their wounded within 25 minutes 40 years ago because American presidents not only care about their military, but they know their voters do, too.
Forty years on - 40 years of whizzbang technological advancement - and care for our wounded service personnel is in the Stone Age. Britain makes me sick. You didn't have to allow yourselves to be taken over like this.
What are the comparable figures from France, for example?
I was very shocked to hear that time scale to evacuate injured personal, particularly when it is the first few vital minutes and hours which can mean the difference between life and death. The strides made by the Americans on this front have been truly breathtaking, and I remember last year that one injured British soldier is only alive today because of the fast response and care given by an American medical team who got to him quickly.
This government was getting away with this to some extent in Iraq but the shortcomings in funding/helicopters or any real will to improve the response time of our own excellent medical teams must be solely laid at Blair & Co's door.
Verity, yes I know you are not Blair's biggest fan, and yes this is a massive failing born as you rightly say by not caring.
Our troops are loyal enough to kee schtum which is why he has got away with it for so long.
ChrisD, So was I, rubbish isn't it?
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