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Good work OP, i spent three years working in Iraq ending in mid-2014. I split my time between Erbil and Basra with multiple trips passed Mosul when travelling to oil rigs, nothing as admirable as you.
I decided to leave as ISIS were moving in and bombs started going off about 500m from our office in Erbil. The Kurds are great people.
I decided to leave as ISIS were moving in and bombs started going off about 500m from our office in Erbil. The Kurds are great people.
Dan_1981 said:
Fantastic thing to do.
Massive respect. Saw your post in the jobs forum when you mentioned you were going.
Is it back to day to day paramedicing now?
It is but having a little break away first. It's going to be tough but my family and friends are ecstatic I'm home safe.Massive respect. Saw your post in the jobs forum when you mentioned you were going.
Is it back to day to day paramedicing now?
thainy77 said:
Good work OP, i spent three years working in Iraq ending in mid-2014. I split my time between Erbil and Basra with multiple trips passed Mosul when travelling to oil rigs, nothing as admirable as you.
I decided to leave as ISIS were moving in and bombs started going off about 500m from our office in Erbil. The Kurds are great people.
They really are. They are in a tough situation and you have to remember it's national service so many are there but don't want to be. Worth noting that unless a family can afford it body armour isn't standard issue. Many of the injuries could be prevented by armour and certainly the severity would be reduced.I decided to leave as ISIS were moving in and bombs started going off about 500m from our office in Erbil. The Kurds are great people.
Fair one - that's hot in more ways than one; I can't say 'excellent experience' because of all the s
t you'll have seen and the humanitarian trauma, but I hope you would understand what I meant if I did.
I'd also echo Sherpa above, if you feel it's getting to you in any way, get someone to release it to. You wouldn't be normal if it didn't to some degree.
You should be proud of what you've done mate.
t you'll have seen and the humanitarian trauma, but I hope you would understand what I meant if I did. I'd also echo Sherpa above, if you feel it's getting to you in any way, get someone to release it to. You wouldn't be normal if it didn't to some degree.
You should be proud of what you've done mate.
First of all, big respect for doing what you've done there-there should be more recognition for what volunteers do over there.
But one thing I have to ask (though you don't have to answer), disregarding the huge humanitarian thing that you've done what do you actually think of what's happening down there and the fellow man that you were were working for?
Are the Iraqi army the same one we've fought against in previous conflicts? Are some of the ISIS fighters ones that may become our allies once the political outlook inevitably changes in a few years?
I guess I'm wondering if there's a certain futility to it all over there? Is the place just destined to go from one conflict to another, with the inevitable damage to innocent civilians part and parcel of living in the region?
But one thing I have to ask (though you don't have to answer), disregarding the huge humanitarian thing that you've done what do you actually think of what's happening down there and the fellow man that you were were working for?
Are the Iraqi army the same one we've fought against in previous conflicts? Are some of the ISIS fighters ones that may become our allies once the political outlook inevitably changes in a few years?
I guess I'm wondering if there's a certain futility to it all over there? Is the place just destined to go from one conflict to another, with the inevitable damage to innocent civilians part and parcel of living in the region?
Massive respect to you, OP. I spent a week in Baghdad last year, working with the Iraqi military on a C-RCIED requirement amongst other things.
Even in the relative safety of Baghdad with close protection, it's still a very different world and you could hear small arms fire every evening not too far from the hotel we were staying in
I couldn't begin to imagine what Mosul must be like
Even in the relative safety of Baghdad with close protection, it's still a very different world and you could hear small arms fire every evening not too far from the hotel we were staying in
I couldn't begin to imagine what Mosul must be like
Huge respect to you OP, it takes a huge amount of heart and bravery to do what you did.
I'd imagine some of the scenes you saw were truly horrific and heartbreaking, which we in our privileged positions will hopefully never experience.
What are the things that this has changed most about your thoughts about conflict, the ME, IS etc etc?
I'd imagine some of the scenes you saw were truly horrific and heartbreaking, which we in our privileged positions will hopefully never experience.
What are the things that this has changed most about your thoughts about conflict, the ME, IS etc etc?
Ruskie said:
Two stories that will stick with me. A small snapshot of the 2 weeks.
We received a 6 year old girl with fairly minor injuries, however her entire family had been killed due to a mortar hitting her house. How do you even begin to understand the pain she was experiencing?
At one point we received 3 children in one ambulance. The girl I was looking after was 4 and from her knees to the end of her toes on both legs were completely burned. Not only that but they were 2 days old so the risk of infection was incredibly high. Her brother has full thickness burns to his face. He was 2. His face was literally black and his eyes shut due to the swelling. Truly heartbreaking.
Poor kids. Utterly appalling that they're suffering like that.We received a 6 year old girl with fairly minor injuries, however her entire family had been killed due to a mortar hitting her house. How do you even begin to understand the pain she was experiencing?
At one point we received 3 children in one ambulance. The girl I was looking after was 4 and from her knees to the end of her toes on both legs were completely burned. Not only that but they were 2 days old so the risk of infection was incredibly high. Her brother has full thickness burns to his face. He was 2. His face was literally black and his eyes shut due to the swelling. Truly heartbreaking.
Thankfully there are people like you doing your best to help them, though.
What an incredible thing to do.
Ruskie said:
They really are. They are in a tough situation and you have to remember it's national service so many are there but don't want to be. Worth noting that unless a family can afford it body armour isn't standard issue. Many of the injuries could be prevented by armour and certainly the severity would be reduced.
I still keep in touch with a lot of friends over there and get updates on how they are doing. We had a lot of our HR guys decide to join the cause just after i left of their own free will. I wouldn't have trusted them to order stationary let alone run around with RPG's at the time but they seem to have turned in to competent soldiers which is hard to believe.
Do you have any plans to return?
LordHaveMurci said:
Riley Blue said:
It takes a special person to be a paramedic, never mind do what you've done, Ruskie. Top man - and thank you.
Have to agree with this, and pretty much all of the previous comments, thank God people like you exist. . Pretty bloody amazing - certainly puts a lot of our 'mundane issues' into perspective Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff