A TEAM from Salisbury District Hospital beat 17 other NHS teams to win the National Health Service military challenge at Oakhampton Camp last weekend.

South West based 243 (Wessex) Field Hospital invited NHS staff to step into the world of a military medic to give them a taste of what it takes to be a Reservist in the Army Medical Corps.

The competitive event held over two days involved 18 teams from all the major NHS Trusts in the South West, who participated in physical and mental activities provided by Reservists from the Royal Navy and Marines, Army and Royal Air Force.

The fourth ‘exercise’, in this the 70th anniversary of the NHS continues the strong relationships with the military, and demonstrated the benefits that can be gained by NHS employers and employees from training and opportunities available to them by supporting or serving in Britain’s Volunteer Reserve Forces.

Captain Ken Caunter Operations Support Officer 243 Wessex Field Hospital: “We the Army Reserve Medical Services rely almost 100 per cent on the NHS, and if I was to quantify that, in our recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan I would estimate 70 per cent of the medical staff that were on the grounds through that operation were Reservists in the NHS serving with one of our units. That is how important that is. We have dedicated this event to NHS70.”

Teams of 12, ranging from hospital administrative staff to clinical nurses completed in ten activities ranging from vehicle recovery to an obstacle course with a final fitness challenge, and gun run on the second day.

One of those stands, Care Under Fire replicated how to treat a casualty under fire in a battlefield situation and gave civilian NHS staff a real insight to the difference between treating a casualty in a civilian hospital compared to the desperate situation they would be in on a battlefield. It involved live casualties played by amputee actors and asked the teams to deal with catastrophic bleeds in an austere environment.