Sunday Mercury reporter learns about treating casualties on the army frontline

Apr 3 2011 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

AS we enter the Afghan village, it is obvious something has gone drastically wrong.

A new well that we are here to see – installed with the help of British troops – has been obliterated by a Taliban bomb.

During the night insurgents had booby-trapped the water source, knowing full well that the first person to use it would be blown to pieces.

The blast has also torn through a team of eight UK squaddies who had been patrolling nearby.

I am supposed to be here as an impartial observer, witnessing progress in the war-ravaged country.

But with so many wounded, anyone who can, MUST help the injured – including me.

My victim, a young private called Tom is screaming in agony. He has had his left leg blown off below the knee. Blood is gushing into the sandy ground.

It is up to me to tie a life-saving tourniquet around his thigh to cut off the blood supply, and give him a pain-killing morphine injection.

All we can do now is hope that emergency medical helicopters arrive in time to get Tom to a field hospital.