Interview with Kate Prior

British commissioned officer served as an anaesthetist with the Royal Navy in Iraq on Operation Telic 10 (May 2007-October 2007); in Afghanistan on Operation Herrick 11 (October 2009-April 2010), Operation Herrick 14 (April 2011-October 2011) and Operation Herrick 18 (April 2013-October 2013); in Sierra Leone on Operation Gritrock (2014); in South Sudan on Operation Trenton (2018).

Background and early career, 1972-2009: overview of current role; family links to the British Armed Forces; reasons for joining the Royal Navy, September 1993; degree of medical training; role as a medical cadet; degree of general duties on HMS Grafton, RAF Argus and HMS Manchester; story on the possibility of military strike action against Iraq whilst serving in the Persian Gulf, 1998. Aspects of period as an anaesthetist with the Royal Navy on deploying to Iraq on Operation Telic 10 (May 2007-October 2007): role at the hospital in Basra in the Immediate Response Team (IRT); degree of pre-deployment training; accommodation; response to indirect fire (IDF); average day; overview of casualties; story of soldier being hit by a stray round of celebratory gunfire. Brief description of training as part of a shock trauma and anaesthesia fellowship in Boston, 2009. Recollections of period as an anaesthetist with the Royal Navy and in a Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) on deploying to Afghanistan on Operation Herrick 11 (October 2009-April 2010): role of the MERT; accommodation and facilities at Camp Bastion; security situation; sight of Kajaki Dam from the air; description of a 9-liner; categories of causalities; overview of individual roles within the MERT; management of dealing with multiple causalities; medical rules of eligibility for treating civilians; importance of MERT teams; impact of a patient dying after treatment; smell of blood and mud when treating casualties; story of meeting a double amputee patient years after treatment; story of showing a casualty his patient photographs years later; patient diaries; apprehension prior to deployment. Aspects of period as an anaesthetist with the Royal Navy on deploying to Camp Bastion hospital in Afghanistan on Operation Herrick 14 (April 2011-October 2011): role as a hospital anaesthetist; degree of pre-deployment training; changes to Camp Bastion; story of treating an Afghan child with severe burns; impact of armoured underwear (nicknamed ‘combat codpiece’) on protecting soldiers pelvic area from trauma; changes to body armour and equipment; differences between British and US Armed Forces; role of Afghan interpreters; treating Afghan civilians. Aspects of period as an anaesthetist with the Royal Navy and in a MERT on deploying to Afghanistan on Operation Herrick 18 (April 2013-October 2013): quietness of tour; differences with previous tours; accommodation and facilities at the flight line at Camp Bastion; receiving post and e-blueys from strangers; story of visiting a US base after a suicide bomb attack and treating a casualty; main causes of casualties; impact of experiences in Afghanistan on hospitals and trauma medicine in the UK. Brief aspects of period as an anaesthetist with the Royal Navy on deploying to RFA Argus (A135) docked in Sierra Leone on Operation Gritrock (2014): outbreak of epidemic of Ebola virus disease; role of the operation; story of treating a child with appendicitis; quietness of tour. Brief aspects of period as an anaesthetist with the Royal Navy on deploying to South Sudan on Operation Trenton (2018): political situation in South Sudan; role of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS); working with international UN forces. Final reflections on: the Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan in August 2021 and UK operations; long-term health impacts for amputees; impact of military trauma practice to civilian medical practice; changes to the Royal Navy; experiences of sexism; the impact of military experiences on her personal life.