From a minor injury to major surgery, there is little that the combined Australian and Indonesian medical team embarked in HMAS Adelaide can’t deal with.
As part of Exercise Keris Woomera, the Australian Amphibious Force (AAF) deployed with a team of practitioners and specialists to deliver a full suite of medical services.
The Maritime Operational Health Unit (MOHU), which is working with its Indonesian ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Armed Forces (TNI) counterparts embarked for the exercise, provides quality care for the ship’s company, members of the AAF and other embarked personnel.
MOHU Director of Clinical Services Commander Scott Squires said the exchange of knowledge between the ADF and TNI medical contingents was invaluable in terms of building interoperability.
“Over the past few days we’ve conducted a range of integrated training with the embarked TNI medical team,” Commander Squires said.
“Part of the training involves identifying similarities in our approach to healthcare, and where there are differences we can learn from each other in order to integrate our systems and processes as much as possible.”
The MOHU, which comprises about 50 personnel, provides a range of services including theatre, intensive care, pathology services, dental treatment, medical imaging, and a range of other allied health services such as physiotherapy and mental health support.
“As part of the team, we also have two emergency physicians, three anaesthetists, two general surgeons and an orthopaedic surgeon, which means we bring tremendous capability to the Australian Amphibious Force,” Commander Squires said.
‘The exchange of knowledge and skills between our two nations not only allows us to work better together but also makes us stronger.’
TNI medical officer First Lieutenant Syarif Hidayatullah said his team enjoyed the opportunity to work with the ADF.
“The intention of this training is to form a close bond with the ADF so we can work more effectively in the future,” First Lieutenant Hidayatullah said.
“The exchange of knowledge and skills between our two nations not only allows us to work better together but also makes us stronger.
“There are a lot of similarities with how we work so it doesn’t matter if you’re Indonesian or Australian, you will be familiar with the procedures.”
Keris Woomera is a bilateral amphibious exercise and represents the largest combined joint activity in recent history.
The exercise will feature air, maritime, amphibious and follow-on land operations, and a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief evacuation scenario.
Exercises such as this highlight the ongoing cooperation between Australia and Indonesia, which was strengthened by the recent signing of the Defence Cooperation Agreement.
