'The Quiet Battle' oil on canvas

Since April 2006, the Royal Air Force Tactical Critical Care Air Support Teams (RAF TacCCASTs) have transferred and retrieved over 750 critically ill patients of all ages and nationalities, in support of Op HERRICK (Afghanistan). The tactical team is permanently on-call in Afghanistan and exists to transport these patients, between different military hospitals, to access specialist care not available at the presenting hospital.

The tactical team is mirrored by a strategic team, which is also permanently on-call but based in the UK. The strategic team is at 6 hours notice-to-move and transfers the critically ill from Afghanistan back to the Centre for Defence Medicine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

This painting represents a tactical patient transfer in support of Op HERRICK, on board a C130 'Hercules', from Camp Bastion to Kandahar Air Field to enable further treatment for an injured serviceman in 'late 2010'.

March 2012