A nurse from Kilmarnock has been headhunted by paratroopers to help them keep the peace in Cyprus with the UN.
Corporal Beth Brown is an emergency department nurse, both in her civilian life at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and as an Army Reserve with 215 (Scottish) Multirole Medical Regiment. She is coming to the end of training before setting off in April for a six-month deployment on the divided island with 4 th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (4 PARA).
“I must have made a good impression,” the 29-year-old stated, adding that after completing some medical training for 4 PARA, they requested him to travel to Cyprus with them a few weeks later. I seized the opportunity, and it will be fascinating to work with other forces and serve with the UN to gain insight into their rather different methods of operation.
In Cyprus, 4 PARA will provide the UK’s contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Troops will patrol the 180km-long ‘Green Line’ buffer zone separating the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.
Beth stated: “This is new for me—I’ll be working as a senior nurse to train and coach more junior medics. It will be an excellent learning experience because it’s more of a general healthcare job than the trauma medicine I’m versed in.
The instruction is proceeding smoothly. Nine of us medics got together just for this tour, and we quickly became a productive team.
Beth has been a member for ten years, trains at the Whitefield Road Army Reserve Centre in Glasgow, and has participated in missions in Iraq. “I joined because it was a challenge that would teach me new things, I like sports, and the lifestyle appealed,” she continued. I have experience and the ability to interact with a wide range of people because I work in a civilian hospital and have much more experience dealing with trauma patients than military medics do.
“I’ve returned to my civilian work with greater confidence. I teach drills and am a skill-at-arms, which are completely unrelated to my regular work. I feel much more confident now that I know these abilities and how to teach them.
Leave a Reply