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Medway doctor talks of his experiences in
Afghanistan

by Sarah Shaffi

sshaffi@thekmgroup.co.uk

A doctor who is back home after running the main field
hospital in Afghanistan has said a small part of him wishes he was
still in the country.

Col Peter Gilbert spent more than three months as Commanding
Officer (CO) of the hospital at Camp Bastion and returned home to
Rochester on Saturday.

Col Gilbert, commanding officer of the 256 (City of London)
Field Hospital , has been spending time with wife Tina, 49, and his
children Mathew , 21, and Kathryn, 18.

But there is still a small part of the GP, who works at the
Thorndike Surgery in Rochester, that would like to be back in
Afghanistan.

He said: “Although all of us in the unit are grateful to be back
there is a guilty feeling that we’re leaving other people behind to
carry on working.

“In addition to the people from my unit we worked with around 70
American staff, who are still out in Afghanistan as their tour of
duty was longer than ours.

“There is a bit of me that would want to be back there with
them.”

The 51-year-old said November 3 stands out from his tour of
duty.

“The day that sticks out most is when the Afghan policeman shot
several soldiers. That was a pretty devastating thing, it’s very
shocking,” he said. “We have a mortuary at the hospital so those
who died were brought to us.

“But when you hear about something like that you know there are
injured people as well and you know you have to be ready to treat
them. “You have to turn the focus on keeping the people you can
alive.”

The injuries treated at the hospital everyday may only be seen
by staff working in British hospitals once or twice during their
whole careers.

Soldiers regularly came in with missing limbs from being caught
in blasts from improvised explosive devices (IED), and although
there were some quiet days, the hospital did find itself almost
full to capacity at times.

“The IED injuries are pretty shocking and need very intensive
treatment. You see those injuries and gulp and swallow, but then
the training kicks in and you get on with the job,” he said.

“There were days when we were almost overwhelmed, but that’s
when it’s my job to make sure everyone on the team works together
and is able to do their job and treat everyone that comes in.”