Afghanistan/Australien — Seriously ill soldier transferred to Germany

An Aus­tralian sol­dier serv­ing in Oruz­gan Province, Afghanistan, has been aero-med­ical­ly evac­u­at­ed to Ger­many for ongo­ing med­ical care after being found uncon­scious in his accom­mo­da­tion on Fri­day (28 May, 2010).

The sol­dier was imme­di­ate­ly trans­port­ed to the Tarin Kowt med­ical facil­i­ty and sta­bilised before being moved by heli­copter to the larg­er Kan­da­har Role III Hospital. 

Com­man­der Joint Task Force 633, Major Gen­er­al Cantwell said the sol­dier had been assessed as hav­ing a seri­ous illness. 

“At this stage, every­body is doing every­thing they can to help him – the med­ical care has been absolute­ly first rate,” Major Gen­er­al Cantwell said. 

“Mov­ing him to Ger­many means access to a greater range of spe­cial­ists and med­ical equipment.” 

Major Gen­er­al Cantwell said it was too ear­ly to tell the cause of the soldier’s illness. 

“We have begun to look at the cir­cum­stances lead­ing to his dis­cov­ery and a full inves­ti­ga­tion into the inci­dent will be conducted. 

“My focus how­ev­er is ensur­ing that he and his fam­i­ly receive the best care available.” 

The soldier’s fam­i­ly have been noti­fied of the ill­ness and are being offered ongo­ing support. 

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia