Meet the army doctor working on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic

After three tours in Afghanistan, Dr Richard Fawcett became an Emergency Medicine Consultant at Royal Stoke University Hospital

The Covid-19 crisis may have been unprecedented, but for Dr Richard Fawcett, pictured above and below, working on the frontline is nothing new.

Before his role as an Emergency Medicine Consultant at Royal Stoke University Hospital, North Midlands, Fawcett conducted three tours of Afghanistan, treating ill and wounded soldiers. Despite the vast differences between the two situations, Fawcett’s extensive military experiences and qualifications have helped him and his team develop a robust response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Frontline experience

“I was the only doctor there for about 300 people, which was quite an eye-opening experience,” says Fawcett of his first stint in Afghanistan in 2007 as part of the Army Reserves. Working at the Role 2E Field Hospital in Camp Bastion and at the Forward Operating Base, Fawcett provided key treatment on the Afghanistan frontline.

On his second stint in 2007, he spent three months in Camp Bastion as a Trauma Team Leader, and on his third tour in 2011, he was the clinical lead for the Medical Emergency Response Team, a four-person medical team operating from a Chinook flying over Afghanistan, picking up wounded soldiers on the battlefield.

What’s more, Fawcett – who also counts a role with the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity as a helicopter doctor amongst his impressive repertoire – has completed an MSc in Disaster Healthcare. Playing an instrumental part of Stoke hospital’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic is just one more string to his bow.

Fawcett now draws on his extensive military experiences and qualifications

“I was able to take a lot of stuff I learnt and apply it from the very start,” Fawcett says of putting his Masters in Disaster Healthcare into practise. “Before the patients even get to the emergency department, we make sure there’s clear boundaries, and patients are directed to the right areas to avoid any cross-contamination.”

Global perspective

His army tours also contributed: “Looking at the designs of how they set up field hospitals and stuff helps,” he adds. “And working with international colleagues – it’s good to get a non-UK perspective on how other countries deal with certain circumstances.”

This involved an overhaul of the whole emergency area and its processes. “We now run two emergency medicine departments out of one department,” he explains. “We’ve had to basically split the whole department in half.”

Now, Stoke hospital features red zones and green zones: the former is for those displaying potential Covid symptoms and the latter is for those who aren’t. As such, the pathways and patient-flow of the hospital have had to be changed to avoid any instances of contact between these areas.

“We have separate ambulance entrances for red and green patients. We have two resuscitation departments, two areas for major patients, two areas for walk-in patients, two minor injuries areas, two paediatrics departments, as well as designing alternative pathways to try and stream those patients that don’t have to come through the emergency department to other places.” he explains, noting how such divisions have had to be executed throughout the whole hospital to prevent crowding and maintain social distancing.

The task may have been monumental, but Fawcett takes pride in the hospital’s response: “This is what we’ve always trained for and it’s been good to see how us as an emergency department have responded to it. We’ve ensured patient safety and staff safety has always been at the forefront.”