Defence Anaesthetists receive Pask Award
The award will be made by the Council of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) at its Winter Scientific Meeting held in London.
Defence Anaesthetists are a crucial part of the medical team in any conflict zone. In Afghanistan, a small number initially worked to support Special Forces with forward resuscitation and critical care evacuation. Since early 2002 they have been part of the coalition of up to 42 nations who have contributed to the International Stabilisation Assistance Force (ISAF). Consultants and later in the mission, trainees, have been deployed to provide medical support to combat and security operations.
These teams have led advances in care, which have seen a great many unexpected survivors from trauma. This has heralded the lowest mortality amongst casualties in any conflict to date. Key to that has been the involvement of the anaesthetist at every stage of the evacuation chain from pre-hospital care, resuscitation, anaesthesia, intensive care, pain management and aeromedical evacuation, through to command roles as Deployed Medical Directors.
Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Rex Kinnear-Mellor (above), 36, from Nottinghamshire, is a Royal Navy Anaesthetic Trainee. In April 2014 he was deployed for the first time to the UK hospital in Camp Bastion in support of Operation HERRICK 20, the final phase of combat operations in Afghanistan. His deployment was the culmination of several weeks of preparatory pre-deployment clinical and military training which prepared him for the working in trauma care.
"The multidisciplinary, tri-service training packages I undertook were the result of a continued effort to pass on experiences and previous lessons learnt, a process which continually evolved as the campaign in the country unfolded. This training held at the Army Medical Services Training Centre (AMSTC) and the Royal College of Surgeons of England helped prepare me for working in a trauma environment. This training was greatly beneficial and meant I arrived for my first deployment to Helmand fully prepared for the task in hand."
This conflict has seen an unprecedented improvement in care of the war wounded. This has been backed by continuing world class research and development, which in many cases has been undertaken by Defence Anaesthetists while deployed. This level of exceptional care has led to the description of the UK led hospital in Camp Bastion, as being the 'best trauma hospital in the world'.
Wing Commander Natalie Glover (above), 36, from South Wales, is a member of the RAF and has been deployed to Afghanistan twice since 2012, primarily in the role as the Tactical Critical Care Air Support Team (TC-CAST) Consultant (photo: see notes below). The TC-CAST teams undertake some particularly hazardous missions and are exposed to danger above that normally experienced when flying over and landing in hostile territory. Missions often involve tactical flying at night through mountain passes in helicopters or fixed wing aircraft to save the lives of critically injured service personnel. She describes team morale is an important element of working in a high-stress environment.
"The casualty through-put had decreased significantly by the time of my second tour, but that did not detract from the work of the deployed anaesthetists who ensured that, through continued training and simulation, the level of care remained second to none. The morale and dedication of all was kept high and this meant that my time there was spent working with one of the most cohesive and effective teams that I have ever had the fortune to work with."
The stress of working daily with critically injured young UK and Coalition Service personnel and local civilians, including many children, cannot be overstated. The AAGBI would like to highlight the outstanding dedication and personal resolve demonstrated by those volunteers who repeatedly return for these extremely taxing duties on operational deployments.
Major Sukumar Sudheer, 46, from Cardiff, was commissioned in 2011 as a British Army Officer and Consultant Anaesthetist and deployed to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2013. Although challenging, he has found the experience extremely rewarding and urges those who have thought about joining the Regular or Reserve Defence Anaesthetists to consider the opportunity:
"The exposure of working in Afghanistan has given me a clearer understanding about military life and human factors as well as contributing to my clinical understanding, clinical skills and confidence. My word out to all anaesthetists who would like to join the military, do join. My immense gratitude to all for letting this happen."
As we move beyond ground combat operations in Afghanistan, the AAGBI would like to recognise the individuals who have served and continue to serve their patients, Defence Anaesthesia, the Defence Medical Services and their Country with loyalty, dedication and honour.
In 2010 and 2012 military anaesthetists were awarded the Pask Award for their services in Iraq and Afghanistan. This year a further 21 have served and are receiving the award.
The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) is the professional membership organisation for over 10,800 anaesthetists in the UK and Ireland. The AAGBI promotes patient care and safety, and advances anaesthesia through education, publications, research and international work, as well as the professional aspects of the specialty. The AAGBI's motto in somno securitas (safe in sleep) encapsulates the major focus of the AAGBI: safety in anaesthesia. www.aagbi.org
The Pask Award
The Pask Award was first instituted in 1977 for anaesthetists who had rendered distinguished service, either with gallantry in the performance of their clinical duties, in a single meritorious act or consistently and faithfully over a long period. The award was named after Professor E A Pask who had distinguished career in the Royal Air Force Medical Branch which included dangerous self experimentation, requiring considerable personal courage.
Edgar Alexander Pask (1913-1966)
Born in Derby and educated at the Rydal School, Pask won a scholarship to Downing College, Cambridge. There he obtained first class honours and a scholarship to the London Hospital, later becoming House Surgeon at Oxford until war broke out.
During the Second World War, he joined an experimental RAF team in Farnborough, where he allowed himself to be used as a guinea pig. To test lifejackets for the Royal Air Force, Pask was anaesthetised and thrown into deep water to investigate whether he rotated until his head was above the surface. The design of jacket examined is still in use.
Pask also helped to establish, through oxygen deprivation, that the greatest height for survival in a parachute jump is 30,000 feet. He designed a suit to protect against cold in the sea, and tested it himself by parachuting into the water.
After the war Pask became Reader in Anaesthetics at the University of Durham and was soon promoted to professor. He was awarded the OBE in 1944 and the John Snow Medal in 1946, and gave the Joseph Clover lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons.
