15 December 2009
The annual NZDF medical competition, the Waterhouse Trophy, was held in Burnham on 7 November.
Fourteen teams from across the Defence Force were joined by an enthusiastic specialist rescue team from Christchurch Civil Defence for a day that consisted of a series of six stands located in and around Burnham Camp. The Commandant of the Land Operations Training Centre, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Ogilvie had earlier challenged his staff at the Joint Services Health School (JSHS) to create a series of scenarios that tested leadership, teamwork and situational awareness along with advanced First Aid skills. This was achieved with a range of very different activities designed by the school’s instructors to reflect contemporary operations including mass casualties, combat medicine, confined space rescue and the use of current trauma protocols.
Teams dodged paint balls, crawled under flyblown animal intestines (strategically placed for maximum effect), dragged casualties through around and over obstacles, and endured loud sound effects simulating collapsing buildings and wailing alarms. A written test, presented via a timed power-point played alongside the best bits of Saving Private Ryan in the Camp’s conference centre to test their academic ability along with concentration and focus. The CPR test included for the first time the use of defibrillators and the latest Q-CPR high definition assessment technology provided by Laerdal (NZ).
One of the team tests included 16 casualties (NZ Cadet Forces) strewn in and around the JSHS technical rescue training area and was a particular favourite among the four person teams taking part as it tested triage skills to the limit.
The 2009 competition set a significantly higher standard of challenge compared to previous years, both physically and mentally. Despite this, the final team scores were the closest seen in over five years with most teams’ results being within close proximity of the eventual winners, 2nd Health Support Team One from 2 HSB in Linton.
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Waterhouse Trophy: Overall best score sponsored by Frontier Medical (NZ) Ltd |
2 HST Team One, Linton |
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McMahon Trophy: Runners Up Trophy sponsored by Zoll (NZ) Ltd |
Burnham MTC, Team 2 |
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MedXus leadership Plate: Best Leader |
Cpl Kelly Whittle RAP, 2/1 RNZIR |
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Grigg Memorial Cup: Best combined CPR |
2 HST Team Three, Linton |
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Gordon Watt Memorial Cup: Best Team tests combined results |
2 HST Team One, Linton |
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Pairs Trophy: Best combined score in the pairs test |
Burnham MTC Team One |
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RNZNC Academic Prize: Best results written test |
Sgt Rachel Gill, 3 HST, Christchurch |