ABBEY WOOD: Afghanistan army medic honoured for saving lives (From This Is Local London)

ABBEY WOOD: Afghanistan army medic honoured for saving lives

12:09pm Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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AN ARMY medic who served in Afghanistan has been honoured for her bravery and professionalism.

Captain Andrea Blay from Abbey Wood, has spent the last three months working alongside colleagues in the Territorial Army's (TA) 256 Field Hospital regiment at a military medical centre in Camp Bastion.

The 44-year-old, who has been in the TA for two years, was rewarded with an operational service medal at Kensington Town Hall to mark her efforts in saving the lives of injured servicemen and civilians.

Speaking afterwards, the nurse said: “It was baptism by fire in the very beginning.

"We had such very busy shifts - one day we had seven admissions all at once. But there was a true camaraderie there as everyone was striving for the one common purpose - to save and stabilise lives."

She added: "I learnt so much there and I witnessed some very impressive surgery techniques.

"Unfortunately, we saw blast and penetrating injuries from exploding improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and gun shot wounds on a daily basis.

"There is no other hospital in the world that handles this level of trauma injuries so frequently.”

During her tour Captain Blay and her colleagues treated soldiers from the UK, USA, Denmark and Estonia as well as Afghan nationals and Taliban members.

With her paediatric experience, she also cared for many Afghan children who she believes are the forgotten victims of this war.

The captain, who works as a nurse on civvy-street at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, said “The children were brought in or accompanied by their fathers, never their mothers.

"But despite their awful injuries they all seemed to do very well as they are very adaptable and the family members were so very grateful for everything that we did.”

For more information on TA medics, call 0207 091 2661 or visit army.mod.uk/256fdhosp