Such scrutiny

THE Australian Defence Force has admitted that a dying Australian soldier took nearly two hours to reach hospital in Afghanistan, but sharply rejects claims that his retrieval was bungled.

Having initially refused to release timings on the wounding and air evacuation of SAS signaller Sean McCarthy, who died of injuries inflicted by a road-side bomb on July 8, the ADF revealed yesterday that aero-medical evacuation choppers lifted off from Kandahar airbase 38 minutes after the blast happened, and 22 minutes after the call for help from the soldiers was logged.

The time lag between the incident and lift off appears to be a little lengthy to me and will to all Vietnam Vets. We had a system then where we would radio in “Standby Dustoff” (AME) as soon as we knew we had taken casualties. Thus within a few minutes of a soldier being wounded the Medicos were warned of an imminent requirement for evacuation; the chopper crew were doing their preflights and the Doctors and Nurses were scrubbing up. Presuming Armies remember lessons from the past, and yes I know that isn’t always a given, then I would imagine that something similar happens today. If the choppers lifted off 38 minutes after the blast and 22 minutes after the radio call for evacuation then are we expected to believe that the patrol took 16 minutes to call for evacuation of a seriously wounded soldier? I’m not criticising anyone here, least of all the patrol, as my comments are being written far from the realities and fog of war and in the comfort of my office but the ADF does need to review every action and reaction to ensure we are doing the best for our diggers. I’m sure the ADF are busy doing just that right now. Recommended reading: DUSTOFF in the Vietnam War.