Four years ago he joined his local Army reserves unit and now he is on duty in the Solomon Islands.
Jeremy, 26, is part of the Australian Defence Force contribution to the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) which is helping support law and order at the request of the elected government.
Jeremy has specialised as a rifleman, but he’s also a qualified Combat First Aider so he’s also working three nights a week at the National Referral Hospital in capital city Honiara.
“The hospital is run purely by civilians,” said Jeremy.
“We go in there three nights a week to help out. Some nights there will be anything from sixty odd people in the waiting room.”
“We go through patients one at a time helping them with triage and dealing with anything we can handle with our level of training.
“We work in the emergency department and are open to whoever comes through the door. It can be anything from people hit by cars to babies with malaria.”
Jeremy said the work he has done at the hospital has been one of the highlights of his time in the Solomon Islands.
“There is definitely a language barrier with patients and staff but you know when someone is in pain and you do everything you can to help them,” he said.
“The local hospital is quite under-staffed and, when we offered our assistance, they opened their doors to us and made us feel welcome. It has been very rewarding.
“We told them our qualifications and, although we are not doctors and have minor knowledge of medicine, we have been able to deal with everything which has come through the door.”
Jeremy said he has enjoyed his time in the Solomon Islands and would jump at an opportunity to return.
“The local people are very nice, they have taught me a lot about their culture and I look forward to returning one day.”
– Australian Defence Department
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