Merseysiders among the Territorial Army’s 208 Field Hospital prepare to deploy to Afghanistan

Oct 3 2011 by John Sutton, Liverpool Echo

MEDICS from Merseyside are preparing to fly out to Afghanistan to save the lives of troops fighting the Taliban.

The Territorial Army 208 Field Hospital will take up its position at Camp Bastion in a tour which will last more than three months.

More than 50 staff from NHS trusts in Merseyside will be leaving their jobs, homes and families to work in the busiest trauma hospital in the world.

It treats servicemen from the front line who are evacuated there by helicopter with sickening injuries caused by gunfire and the insurgent’s devastating weapon of choice, the roadside bomb.

But Colonel Peter Jackson, the commanding officer, today said his team will be more than equipped to cope with the challenges ahead.

He said: “We have highly-skilled people and the most high-tech equipment, so we will be more than ready to deal with anything which comes our way.

“We have to be extremely professional when the casualties come in through the front door – you fight to save life and limb and eyesight.”

One man swapping his day job as a charge nurse in A&E at the Royal Liverpool hospital is Major Barry Fitzpatrick.

The 40-year-old father of two young boys, from Wirral, will be taking part in his third operational tour with the TA. He will run the emergency room, the first stop for critically injured soldiers.

He said: “I have served in both Iraq and Afghanistan before, but this will be my first time running the emergency department as the officer commanding. I will be managing a highly motivated and extremely well-trained team of British and American clinicians.

“The worst part of the job is being away from my wife and kids. I explained to my sons that daddy will not be home for Christmas because I am going away to help make sure other dads who might get hurt will be able to get back home.”

Long periods away from home is one of the toughest burdens on military personnel and their families.

Grandmother-of-two Captain Jan Aitchison is preparing to leave her loved ones in Fazakerley to go to a war zone.