"Энди Макнаб. Немедленная операция (engl) " - читать интересную книгу автора

bomb blast or rounds. But the kind of work that the Regiment is involved in
calls for somebody who has taken it a stage ' further; the patrol medic must
be able to carry out surgical procedures in the field, to recognize
illnesses and prescribe and administer drugs. The result then is a patrol
that can stay longer out in the field if it has a major problem; helicopters
don't have to be called in to extract a casualty, with the risk of
compromise.
The Regiment operated a "hearts and minds" policy in the Third World
countries where it worked. In Oman in the seventies, for example, a lot of
the Regiment's time was taken up with looking after the Baluch and the
Firqat, prescribing drugs and looking after their welfare.
There were case notes that covered everything from assisting with a
birth to operating on a villager who'd had half his head blown off.
Sometimes the medic pack contained more drugs and equipment than some
of their hospitals. The problem was that as soon as the medics started
administering medical aid for major injuries and illnesses, there'd be a
mile-long queue outside their A-frame of people with warts and ingrown
toenails.
One of them told me: "We looked after a couple of blokes in the jungle
who had problems with their feet.
Suddenly every man and his dog is on the case, turning up with little
cuts and bruises on their tootsies. The next bloke that pestered us, we made
it look as if we were going to amputate his foot.
We went through all the procedures of making sure the table was clear.
We had the knives out and all sorts."
Apparently they explained to the man that the only way to deal with
such a troublesome foot was to take it off altogether, so if he'd just lie
down on the table, they'd have it squared away in no time.
The cut suddenly wasn't such a problem, and the character ran away. He
spread the good news about, and not many others turned up with bad feet.
Meeting up in Hereford with blokes who had been doing the medics course
while I was doing dems, I heard some wonderful stories.
They had done about six weeks in Hereford, starting from the basics,
learning how to put in Ivs (intravenous drips), administer drugs through
injection, prescribe and use drugs. All the drugs had to be learned by their
universal, Latin names, which 'Was enjoyed no end.
They then had to go away and do a couple of weeks at the London School
of Tropical Medicine. Because a lot of the work was in tropical climates,
they had to know about tropical diseases, how to prevent them, and the way
of treating them when they did take hold.
It was then back to Hereford for a bit more time in the lecture room,
and eventually they got their hospital attachments, all around the country.
Most of their time was spent in casualty, getting hands-on experience; they
could learn all the theory they liked, they were told, but there was nothing
like a bit of hands-on with a road traffic accident casualty, or the
Saturday night people getting filled in and cut.
They had also spent a lot of time learning how to become
hypochondriacs. A fellow called Rod, who spoke with a thick Yorkshire accent
and lots of "thee" and "nowt," spent the first two weeks of his month's
hospital attachment working in the casualty ward. The next two weeks were