Our club meeting of 16th March was privileged to hear from Captain Catriona Wood, an army doctor and daughter of club member Alan Wood, as she gave an illustrated outline of her tour in Afghanistan.

In spring 2014 she was deployed to Camp Qargha in Kabul, attached to the 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards, providing force protection to the staff at "Sandhurst in the Sands" - the Afghan National Army Officer Academy currently under construction and based on the concept of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The British army is mentoring the instructors at the academy to produce the Afghan army officers of the future. 

She worked in the medical centre, which provided primary care and pre-hospital emergency care, manned by 2 doctors and 4 medics, and was on duty or on standby 24 hours a day for weeks on end. For the medical team life in Qargha was a dichotomy between being in a purpose-built NHS-standard treatment facility, but working in an isolated location, and dealing with the challenges this created. In addition to supporting the force protection at the ranges and on exercises with the Afghan Army Cadets, she also carried out many patrols by vehicle around Kabul, which meant long hours in the back of the vehicles. During the day it could take up to 4 hours by road to cover the 18km to the nearest hospital facility. She explained the use of helicopters to evacuate patients and the international cooperation sometimes involved. In addition to medical care, she was responsible for medical training of the British staff and also for teaching basic first aid to females in the Afghan Army.

It was extremely challenging to be in a small camp - but people did manage to find ways to have fun - with races, competitions and occasional concerts put on by the individuals in camp.

Catriona concluded her talk by explaining that the British Army is committed to supporting the Academy until 2017. The number of mentors over this time will decrease as the Afghan Army takes further control.