Care Under Fire

Today’s episode of Care Under Fire has a different take on prehospital medical care through the eyes of former police officer, Brett Stevens. Brett’s diverse career has seen him work in the tactical response unit, and as a private security operator as well as a military medic in a variety of locations from Kings Cross to the US and SE Asia. Brett’s also authored several books including Rescue Para...

Today I chat with Dr Tony Robins, Tony is a GP and medical administrator whose expansive career has included service in the Australian Navy, deployment to Somalia and work everywhere from rural and remote Australia to PNG and Antarctica. Tony reflects on the incredible humanitarian legacy left by 1RAR in Baidoa, the threat on the ground in Mogadishu one year on from the Blackhawk Down incident,the...

Today on Care Under Fire I chat with Rich Sherman, Rich is a former US Navy Intelligence Officer, Gulf War Veteran and is the author and photographer of “Never Home – remembering the military heroes who never returned”. This episode has a slightly different angle as instead of focusing on his own personal story, Rich shares snippets from the biographies of service personnel who paid the ultimate s...

On today’s episode of Care Under Fire, I catch up with Sister Cheryl O’Brien. Cheryl served as a RAAF registered nurse and midwife during the Vietnam war. Based out of Malaysia, Cheryl nursed servicemen and their families on Penang Island and worked in the Butterworth Military Hospital. She also flew medivac missions out of Vung Tau, Vietnam to Butterworth and to Australia. Cheryl reflects on the...

Today on Care Under Fire I chat with Tom, former military psychologist and intelligence officer who served in the Australian Army for 22 years. Tom specialised in critical incident mental health support and deployed to East Timor and Afghanistan six times from 2009-2012. His story, marked with personal tragedy demonstrates that no one is immune to post-traumatic stress and highlights the importanc...

Today on Care Under Fire I catch up with Bahaa Alasady. Bahaa was born in Iraq and worked as a coalition interpreter during the ISIS uprising. His story highlights the vital role of the interpreter in medical, training and partner force missions and the violent realities of living in Baghdad. Bahaa has since migrated to Australia and is studying nursing.

Today on Care Under Fire I catch up with Roneel Chandra, Chands has had an extensive military nursing career spanning 22 years and has served with the Army, Special Operations and the Navy. He shares some wisdom for new ADF nurses as he recounts his experiences including being in a Blackhawk crash landing on an AME mission in Afghanistan, to providing humanitarian aid in Fiji and the Mallacoota bu...

Today I chat with Jack Dear, current ACT paramedic who recently deployed with the NGO, Frontline Medics to assist with the evacuation and treatment of civilian casualties in Ukraine. Jack discusses his early career as an Army Bushmaster crew commander and how his deployment to Afghanistan left him feeling underprepared in managing trauma casualties. Jack later sought further education in South Afr...

Today I chat with Doctor Howard Roby, CSM. Howard is a specialist in Anaesthesia and Intensive care and after gaining aeromedical retrieval skill in Australia joined the RAAF reserve as part of the Military Critical Care Air Transport Service (MCAT). Howard recounts some of the critically ill patients he retrieved over the subsequent 15 years he worked on call for MCAT, from military traumatic inj...

Today I catch up with Jody Tieche, former special forces medic, Timor and Afghanistan veteran and now remote area paramedic. Jody recounts his experiences in the early part of the Australian Afghanistan campaign that saw a change in tactics due to the rise of improvised explosive devices and his experience under fire treating Chad Elliot who was shot in the femur by a 7.62mm round. Jody humbly dis...

Today I chat with Mark Mathieson, former military psychologist and veteran of East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. Mark shares some fascinating insights as we discuss the role of an Army Special Forces psychologist, to some of the moral challenges of organisation psychology in the military to life post the military and his work as a production psychologist for reality TV.Lifeline 13 11 14, Open Arms...

On today’s episode of Care Under Fire I chat all things reserve medic with Ben Flynn. We discuss how through a few short courses the Army transforms someone with no medical background into a medic who can provide advanced first aid and trauma care in remote environments. Ben recalls his experiences deployed in the Solomon Islands and picking up asylum seekers whilst on boarder protection operation...

Today I chat with Andy Brayshaw, former combat medic with 43 years’ experience in both the British and Australian Army serving in the Falklands war, Iraq, Croatia and Bosnia. Andy recounts being wounded and treating combat casualties when his troop land ship, the Sir Galahad was hit by an Argentine air strike in the Falklands through to the CBRN threat in the First Gulf War to his work with the UN...

In today’s episode of Care Under Fire it’s a real privilege to chat with Jess Rychlewski, former Army medic and Vietnam Veteran. Jess recounts his experiences as a patrol medic during a 13 month deployment with Charlie Company 2RAR in Vietnam in 1970. Post Vietnam, Jess continued to serve for 20 years full time and 10 years after that as a reserve medic. Lifeline 13 11 14, Open Arms 1800 011 046

Today I chat which David Leaf, rural generalist, and RAAF Timor veteran. David survived a 2004 helicopter crash in a mountainous region of East Timor, where his team was on-route to retrieve a pregnant woman in obstructed labour. We chat about the role rural generalists play in military medicine, PTSD and David’s work in the veteran health space, particularly improving training for GPs in veteran...

Today on Care Under Fire I chat with Prue Wheelwright. Bought up on a rural property in NSW, Prue is a registered nurse and midwife with experience in regional and remote Australia; and internationally in Saudi Arabia and with Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) in Tajikistan and Ethiopia. Prue now works as a flight nurse with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, based out of Alice Springs and is the autho...

Today on Care Under Fire I chat with Brad Watts, DSM who outlines his experiences as a Special Forces Medic in Afghanistan in 2006. Brad outlines his experience as an AME medic from managing obstetric emergencies to retrieving a Danish soldier with a GSW to the head whilst under fire, actions that would later see him awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. Brad has also had operational experience...

Today on Care Under Fire I catch up with Dianne Hutchinson. Di has had a long career as an Intensive Care Nurse and has worked in a range of austere environments including; Afghanistan, Iraq and immigration detention on Christmas Island. Di has also made an extensive contribution as a volunteer firefighter, with Camp Quality and Operation Open Heart. Through a lens of compassion, Di speaks about h...

On today’s episode of Care Under Fire I chat with Terry Ledgard as he recalls his experiences as an SAS medic in Afghanistan; from treating trauma casualties, through to humanitarian assistance missions, saving his swag in a firefight and overcoming PTSD. He is now a mountaineer completing five of the seven summits, working in under in water medicine and offshore oil and gas and is the author of “...

On todays Care Under Fire, I catch up with Bernadette Serong, Bernie has had an extensive career as an Army Medic and now General Service Officer with operational experience in Afghanistan, Fiji, Iraq and domestically as a health commander during covid and bushfire assistance missions. We chat about Bernie’s time as an AME medic, women in Defence through to her mental health battles and treating h...

Today on Care Under Fire I catch up with Simon Watson, former Navy band tuba and bass guitar player, Army nurse and now emergency department Doctor. Watto recounts some of his experiences from 24 years in the military including playing on Anzac Day at Gallipoli through to service with Special Operations Command, providing humanitarian assistance in Padang and the Solomon Islands and his AME role i...

Episode #6 On today’s episode of Care Under Fire I chat with Michael Slattery. Slats has had an extensive career spanning 26 years in the Australian Army as a beret qualified special operations medic, seeing operational service in PNG, Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. Post the military, Slats has worked as an offshore intensive care paramedic, an emergency nurse, and is the training director for SOTER...

On today’s episode of Care Under Fire I chat with Sam Miletta, a former Victorian Police Officer, current Operational Firefighter, and instructor with TACMED Australia. As we discuss lessons learnt from global terrorism and multi-casualty incidents, Sam shares his insights into the importance of integration between emergency services to enhance responder safety and improve patient outcomes. We als...

On today’s episode of Care Under Fire, I chat with Cristy Rowe, former Australian Army Nurse and now Anaesthetic Registrar. Cristy recounts her experiences in Afghanistan, including the initial trauma resuscitation of Curtis McGrath an Australian Sapper who became a bilateral amputee after an IED blast and the tragic loss of life experienced in Uruzgan in 2012. In memory of injured Aussie soldiers...

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