HMS Queen Elizabeth undergoes 'remarkable' test of air ambulance concept at sea for the first time

Before returning to Portsmouth earlier this week, the aircraft carrier used her autumn deployment to the North Sea and Scandinavia to test the air ambulance concept.

The new Maritime Medical Emergency Response Team (MMERT) was tested in an exercise with Queen Elizabeth’s escort HMS Richmond, which suffered a ‘casualty’ in the engine room with injuries more severe than those the frigate’s sick bay team could handle.

Alongside the new air ambulance, the carrier’s full medical team of 22 staff was activated for the first time in nearly 12 months, utilising two emergency medicine beds, operating theatre, two intensive care beds.

Among those being assessed is medical assistant Amy Walker, who found the life-saving training invaluable.

She said: ‘Being involved with this team is an incredible opportunity I am very grateful to be part of.

‘My knowledge and confidence as a medical assistant has grown from this experience. Finding out about future opportunities within the medical branch has made me very excited about my future career.’

Fellow emergency team member paramedic warrant officer 1 Phil Towers said: ‘The exercise provided an excellent opportunity to test the developing Maritime Medical Emergency Response Team capability.’

And the team received high praise from Commander Chris L’amie, Richmond’s commanding officer, who was ‘hugely impressed’ by the emergency response.

Commander L’amie said: ‘The realism imparted on this exercise because of the professionalism of the MERT, and the support provided to it from my team, wasremarkable – so much so, that when I witnessed the treatment room and the staged handling of an amputee, the atmosphere was justly tense, as you would imagine from something akin to a field hospital.

‘We now better understand onward casualty care when operating within a task group. All of those involved gained a qreat deal from the exercise.’

HMS Queen Elizabeth, which had been at sea for more than three weeks, returned to Portsmouth yesterday evening to undergo some maintenance ahead of Christmas leave for the ship’s company and renewed operations in the new year.