Australia deserves recognition

Military Medicine, Sep 1999 by Purcell, Fabian

Subject: Australia Deserves Recognition

Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999

From: f.purcell shcn.com.au

Organization: Southern Health Care Network

To: milmed@amsus.org

Dear Editor,

I write regarding the article by BG Haywood S Gilliam MC USAR concerning "Working Together: International Medical Readiness" (Military Medicine May 1999;164 #5 pp.319-21 )

Firstly I congratulate the author for highlighting some of the ongoing international problems of military health care delivery in battlespace, environments and operations other than war. The editorial staff of Military Medicine must also be complimented for granting such prominence to this article.

There is one small factual omission in the article. Australia was also part of the Persian Gulf War coalition, providing three warships, a supply ship and three surgical teams aboard the USNS COMFORT. The omission from Table V in the article was quite understandable given the large number of countries involved in that conflict.

This correspondence will hopefully avoid the contribution and service of my colleagues during the Gulf War being inadvertently overlooked in subsequent reviews and articles.

Again, my congratulations to the author and the journal for its continued high quality publications.

Dr Fabian Purcell MB BS FANZCA

Anesthesiologist

Melbourne

AUSTRALIA