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 Paramedics, Real Cops, A Hard Place, The Rise and Fall of Street Gangs & Real Cops USA. We discuss the merge of tactical policing with paramedicine and some of the most memorable jobs in his career.

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 clinical care he provided on AME missions and what it was like coming home.

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 sacrifice in WWI and WWII. We discuss gratitude, being part of something bigger than yourself and how you can commemorate and thank someone who you can never meet in person. To find out more about Rich’s work visit: neverhomeheros.com

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 diversity of her military nursing career from delivering babies to treating snake bites to evacuating ventilated casualties from Vietnam as well as the incredible advances in nursing care seen over her 47 years of nursing.

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 importance of recognising when to seek help.

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 bushfire rescue.

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 Africa as a remote area medical technician and returned to Afghanistan as a contract security officer at the Australian Embassy in Kabul before committing to paramedicine.

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 injuries out of the Middle East to civilian casualties from the White Island Volcano eruption in NZ. We also discuss the innovation in clinical equipment and training that has led to better patient outcomes in war and austere environments.

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 1800 011 046

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.

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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 and first responder health care.

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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 “Bad Medicine – A no-holds-barred account of life as an Australian SAS medic during the war in Afghanistan”. Lifeline 13 11 14, Open Arms 1800 011 046

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 her close mate SGT McQuilty Quirke NSC, after he was ejected from a bushmaster that was hit by an IED. As Bernie is still serving, this episode has been approved for release by Defence Media. It represents the views of the individuals and not Defence.Lifeline 13 11 14, Open Arms 1800 011 046