Surgeons: Wounded troops face delays

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Parker said that American troops fighting in Vietnam 40 years ago were evacuated more quickly than British soldiers are today.

He blamed the lack of dedicated helicopter ambulances and "too many layers of command" for delays which meant that it could take injured troops several hours to travel just a few miles to a field hospital.

His comments were made in an article for the Royal Army Medical Corps Journal after completing a tour of duty last year with 16 Air Assault Brigade in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence insisted that sufficient helicopters were available to evacuate battlefield casualties and complained that his words had been taken out of context.

In his article, Colonel Parker stated: "In Vietnam, wounded soldiers arrived in hospital within 25 minutes. In Iraq in 2005 that figure is 110 minutes. On Operation Herrick IV (Afghanistan 2006) the average pre-hospital time was seven hours.

"A Casevac (casualty evacuation) request has to go through too many layers of command. There seems little point in providing high technology in-hospital care when our patients still take several hours to travel a few miles to us.

"We use support or anti-tank helicopters that are re-roled on an ad hoc basis for the critical care and transport of our sickest patients. We still do not have a dedicated all-weather military helicopter evacuation fleet. Should we not be asking why? We have gone backwards in terms of our evacuation time-lines."

The MoD insisted that comparisons with Vietnam - where the conditions and distances to involved were very different from those in Iraq and Afghanistan - were not relevant.