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Guest blog - Dr. Sean Miles

 Engineer, Medical Doctor, Flight Surgeon, Aviator, Submariner and diver with a wide range of experience in the delivery of operational healthcare in remote and extreme Environments.


Well, that’s quite some introduction for this month’s guest blogger, Dr Sean Miles, and we are more than delighted that he’s been able to share his incredible story with us. It’s hard to believe that one person could even fit this much into a career, and we were totally fascinated from the first sentence. We hope you enjoy it just as much.


My name is Dr Sean Miles, and I was born in London in 1967. As a child, I was always interested in First Aid and took part in what was known as the Casualty Union for the St John’s Ambulance Brigade. I even remember taking my first ever First Aid test at the age of 8 years old as a Cub Scout.

Unfortunately, my early education meant I wasn’t able apply to go into medicine directly after school. But, at the time I didn’t want to go into any areas of health anyway. At the age of 5, I wanted to be an astronaut, and this developed into setting my sights set on being a pilot in the Navy! (More on this later).


Prior to joining the Navy, I did work as a Nursing Assistant in a residential hospital for patients with special needs. Looking after children and adults with various conditions such as Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and patients with numerous other conditions was a great thing to do as 18 years old and it enthused my interest in working in the healthcare sector.


In the Navy I qualified as a non-professional medic, and I continued to work in Naval Warfare environments before finally deciding to go to Medical School at the age of 32. The urge to scratch the medical itch never went away and so I just decided to apply and see what happened. I have always had the attitude that I would rather try something and fail, or find I don’t enjoy it, rather than being 65 years old and regretting I never did things!


I gained entry into medical school by completing suitable modules from the Open University and started at the University of Dundee medical school in 1999. During medical school, I spent time in the Royal Naval Reserve training junior officers and that helped to pay the bills before gaining a Royal Navy Medical Cadetship for my last 3 years of medical education.


I qualified as doctor by degree (MB ChB) in 2004 and obtained full registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) in 2005 after completing Pre-Registration House Officer (PRHO) jobs in General Medicine with Endocrinology, Respiratory Medicine, Lower GI Surgery and Orthopaedics.


2004/2005 was the last year of the PRHO scheme and was replaced with a 2-year foundation programme post medical degree. After completing my PRHO year I returned to the Royal Navy for my General Duties Medical Officer (GDMO) time and completed the New Entry Medical Officer’s (NEMO)

Course in which we were exposed to many aspects of maritime medicine. This course was very useful to prepare junior medical officers for duties at sea and continues to this day in various guises.


After the NEMO course I was sent to HMS NELSON to consolidate my naval and medical knowledge whilst the rest of my new entry medical colleagues headed off for their professional officer training at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, which I was exempt from having served as Officer for over 13 years previously. During my time at HMS NELSON, I was attached to the Submarine Parachute Assistance Group (SPAG) for training and operational support. This is a team of Submariners who taught submarine escape training to all submariners but also formed a Submarine Rescue

Team that was able to deploy to the location of a submarine in distress by parachute insertion and provide medical and technical support quickly whilst awaiting rescue ships.


After my time at HMS NELSON, I started my formal submarine training in preparation to qualify as Submarine Medical Officer. I was originally heading off to the Royal Marines but due to various issues I was selected to go to submarines instead. Submarine training consisted of 5 months training with only a week dedicated to submarine medicine. The rest of course was mostly engineering and nuclear science alongside atmosphere generation and control, and numerous other non-medical courses such as media handling.


I then joined my first Submarine as a medical officer – HMS VIGILANT – a 16000 tonne Ballistic Missile Submarine and immediately went on 6 weeks of work up training followed by a 13-week underwater patrol. During this period, I completed the very mentally arduous basic submarine qualification and earned my ‘Dolphins’.


During my general duties time I completed 3 deterrent patrols and several trials on HMS VIGILANT as well covering periods on HMS VENGEANCE. During my off-watch periods I spent two days a week working in a hospital respiratory department and Intensive Care Unit, and this enabled me to complete my Foundation Competences as a junior doctor that I was required to complete by the GMC in line with the new Foundation

Programme. During this period, I also completed Diplomas in Occupational Medicine and Intermediate Care, both of which have been used regularly since qualifying and completed a part time masters degree in Bioastronautics At the end of my submarine time, I applied to start General Practice training within the Military Deanery and then spent 3 and half years in General Practice Vocational Training (GPVT) that also included two tours in Afghanistan.


On completion of my General Practitioner (GP) training, where I also obtained a Diploma from the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, I returned back to the Royal Navy again and began a placement at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM) Lympstone. This was a short placement to resettle back into the military GP setting and then I was posted to RM Poole, in Dorset and served as Squadron Doctor and ultimately as the senior medical officer supporting maritime special operations.

Following my time at RM Poole I had a brief period at HMS RALEIGH, which is the basic training establishment for all new entry non-commissioned naval personnel and was another consolidation period for me post operations. After 3 months at HMS RALEIGH, I was posted to HMS OCEAN as a singleton GP and Principal Medical Officer (PMO).


HMS OCEAN was a helicopter assault ship, with capacity to carry a tailored air group of up to 20 helicopters as well as a large number of Royal Marines to conduct numerous different missions. This period enabled me to develop my medical management skills in running a solo medical practice supporting over 1000 personnel onboard. I also had to integrate a small surgical team into the medical support team and that was challenging particularly in equipment support and defining areas of responsibility. During my time on HMS OCEAN, we conducted several busy

 deployments in the Baltic and Mediterranean seas. 


The Baltic deployment also involved conducting ‘house calls’ via fast boats to around 25 landing craft holding big numbers of NATO and Finnish soldiers and marines at anchor off the coast of Sweden and on my Mediterranean deployment working with the United States Marine Corps (USMC) to develop an airborne MEDEVAC capability in an MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.


After spending 18 months on HMS OCEAN, I was selected to attend the 7-month course in  aerospace Medicine delivered by King’s College London and the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine (RAF CAM). This course covered the entire  spectrum of aerospace medicine from visits to the European Astronaut Centre at ESA Cologne to  study aspects  of Space Medicine to studying the medical issues associated with flying balloons and

microlights. The course also covered all the  aspects of survival, aerospace life support

systems and clinical medicine related to aerospace operations.


On completion of this very intensive course in which I obtained my diploma in Aviation

Medicine (DAvMed) I was appointed to the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine and assumed the role of Chief Instructor and responsible for the delivery of over 56 aviation medicine courses to the whole of the defence aviation communities’ as well as foreign armed forces.


During my time at RAF CAM, I conducted two operational deployments on HMS ECHO conducting migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. This was a very tough role and I remember lots of challenges including trying to cannulate an Afro-Caribbean patient in the dark, in a force eight gale with water up to my knees, and on that same rescue dealing with a patient in Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA – a serious diabetic crisis). The diabetic patient was unable to be evacuated ashore for further care due to the weather but luckily, we found his insulin in his bag, and I managed to deliver a bolus sliding scale and correct his Blood Glucose overnight. He could have easily died if I had not found his insulin as I only had 1 vial of insulin in the ship’s medical modules.


These experiences simply can’t be taught in a  book, and I always challenge my primary and secondary care colleagues, working most of their time in the NHS setting, that operational medicine is not by the book or rigid adherence to clinical guidelines (designed for practice or hospital settings). You have to do the best for the patient in less-than-ideal circumstances, with the resources you have, where standard guidelines and protocols just don’t work.

After my deployments and finishing my time at RAF CAM, I was appointed to HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH as the Principal Medical Officer and Flight Medical Officer. This was the UK’s first ‘super carrier’, and my job was to get the medical department to an operational footing in support of Carrier Strike Operations. During this period, I led the medical department to support Fast Jet (F35B) trials and Rotary Wing Operations, organising the medical response to emergencies and in action, delivery of force health protection, MEDEVAC procedures, healthcare governance. I also had to develop the medical support to Personnel Recovery, Humanitarian Operations and integration of surgery support etc. This was a very challenging period, but I was able to deliver a medical capability not seen at sea before, including deployed Mental Health support, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation capabilities, laboratory and imaging support and a wide range of dental capabilities. We also pushed the boundaries for Crash on Deck (COD) response where previously all flying stops in an emergency and the aviation medicine support to our US Marine Colleagues who will regularly deploy a F35B squadron to the ship for deployments.


Other highlights of this role were taking the ship to sea during the COVID pandemic and keeping the ship safe and clear of the virus whilst conducting operational sea training in preparation for the ships first deployment. Along with my team we developed many of the policies for keeping the whole fleet operational during the pandemic. I left HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH at the end of the COVID lockdown in July 2020 and then moved to the Royal Marines as the Senior Medical Officer where I was plunged into a major transformation programme with the Royal Marines moving from a purely amphibious role to small team operations and other specialist tasks. It was a challenge to provide a greatly expanded medical support model with limitations in work force, equipment and some institutional inertia. Over the two-year period with the Royal Marines, I was heavily involved in the Royal Marines re-learning how to operate in the high North of Norway in the winter, developing personnel recovery capabilities and supporting trials with remote pilot air systems (Drones) for medical resupply, including blood products. Finally, I was instrumental in generating an official Paramedic cadre for the Royal Navy – something that had been resisted for many years.


After spending two years with the Royal Marines, I moved to my current role which is as an embedded officer in an United States Special Operations Headquarters deployed overseas. My role is as the Command Surgeon to a wide range of specialist medical teams supporting special operations. This role is definitely a culmination of all my medical training and experiences. Being in the Navy since I was teenager, I have always worked in the Maritime environment, but I did have experience in land operations via the Royal Marines and other specialist land units as well as serving on warships ranging from Minesweepers, Frigates, Destroyers, Tankers and Aircraft Carriers. So, once I qualified as a doctor it made sense to   return back to full time service in the Royal Navy and I just added the ‘Blood Red Stripe’ to my uniform in between my rank rings on my uniform and prefixed my rank with Surgeon. I have always been interested in spaceflight – and as mentioned earlier, at the age of 5, of course I wanted to be an astronaut! My original aim was to join the Navy and specialise in Aeronautical engineering and become a test pilot before working towards

becoming an astronaut. But I found air  engineering so very boring! In my flight class there were no options to become a fast jet pilot and only helicopters were available to train on.


Being British was also a major limitation to pursuing a career as an astronaut. The UK did not contribute to the European Space Agency Manned Spaceflight programme until I was in my early 40s and I had no chance of being selected by NASA due to the requirement to be a US Citizen. So, I maintained my interest in spaceflight via my flying and my warfare career. Once I got into medical school, I was able to conduct special study modules in areas of cold weather and aerospace medicine. This included a physiological research project on the use of therapeutic hypothermia in the management of head injury, psychological research in flight simulators on conditioning and spare capacity and the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the management of stroke.

I studied for higher degrees in bioastronautics and was a member of UK Space Labs – a group of likeminded aerospace medicine and physiology students and academics and this continued my interest in Space Medicine.


With all my experiences and training I am often the used as the ‘troublemaker’ in the room when I see lots of plans for manned spaceflight such as moon bases and expeditionary flights to Mars and   asteroids by students and industry, and I have the credibility after serving in several spaceship   analogues such as remote Polar Regions and 

 underwater in submarines and as a diver and  pilot.


I have always been attracted to small teams as a specialist, so working as the Medical Officer in a small team of other specialists is very attractive. I also like having to use lots of other skills, often not normally associated with being a doctor. On a submarine I was the only doctor with two medics and my other roles included navigation,

meteorology and intelligence analysis as well as being the sports and education officer. A perfect background to advise on medical support for long duration space flights. I am also fascinated by the psychology of small teams & operations and, apart from radiation and microgravity effects associated with long duration spaceflight, the psychological health of astronauts is one of the biggest risks to mission success.


On ships and submarines at sea there are similar issues with team and leadership dynamics, especially whilst away from home for extended periods and working in dangerous environments. 


My current patients are mostly US Armed Forces. Even though I am a UK qualified Primary Care Physician (General Practitioner) I also hold US qualifications and so I understand and able to practice with a US deployed population. I only do about 2 sessions of clinical time a week and I find that is enough. I definitely don’t miss seeing loads of patients all day. I prefer to spend more time  with individual patients and provide a more holistic care package, far more than my military and civilian colleagues can whilst they are having to deal with large patient loads.


In my current role I am the Command Surgeon to the Joint Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant. This means I am the Command Advisor to the Commanding General on all aspects of  medical support to Special Forces Operations, including the evaluation of medical risk for all operations and the specialist advisor on special tactics, techniques and procedures for the delivery of Special Forces Medicine. This is mostly US pre-hospital emergency care that has very little doctor involvement unlike the UK PHEM community. But the role is very different here and I lead highly qualified Special Forces Operatives who also have extensive medical training along with their other special skills. The role involves commanding over 56 medical elements made up of personnel from the US, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Canada and Poland special forces and delivering training, pre-hospital emergency care, primary health care, aviation medicine, In-transit and critical care medicine and environmental health. I also develop training policies for our partner forces, mainly working with Iraqi Armed Forces, but also for other nations we support such as the Lebanese and Jordanian Defence Forces. As well as the individual standards I am responsible for the delivery of preventative medicine, behavioural health services, physiotherapy, dental care, veterinary support and numerous other supporting medical services to support our mission. I also coordinate medical intelligence support to ensure all Commanders have a full threat assessment for their intended operations, not just enemy threats. At the headquarters I lead one of the best teams I have have ever had the pleasure to work with. I have a deputy command surgeon whose is a US Army Reservist and whose primary role is medical planning and operations. In her civilian role she has a background as a psychologist working in behavioural health and is a medical readiness specialist.


You also need to develop plenty of other skills and not just be a doctor. Just imagine being a doctor on a long trip to Mars with 4 or 5 other people – a difficult thing to do and the last thing you need is a doctor with acute depression on landing, because they have had nothing to do throughout the entire trip. I was lucky that I started life as an engineer, then drove ships and was a pilot and I have completed lots of courses in subjects like geology, geochemistry and microbiology as well as photography. Along with my military education, which at the last count probably amounts to over 20 million pounds of investment, I have lots of other skills to offer.


As for my go to piece of kit to take on an  expedition. Well, that could fill a book on its own but whatever item you choose to take, make sure it has at least 3 uses! The best reference is the Oxford Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine (an absolute must).


Finally, the best advice I’ve ever been given is ‘Sean, don’t do that!’. Then I ignore them. Life is for living!


We hope you’ve enjoyed this Guest Blog from Sean, we certainly did!

Guest blog: Jordan Lin

by Rachel Smith • 08 May, 2024
At Red Square Medical, we’re keen to support those who have a passion for maritime medicine. While we can’t provide placements for everyone, occasionally a request pops up at just the right time and we can provide some experience and insight into our unique and specialised world. Last year we were contacted by Jordan Lin, a medical student with a love of the ocean. This is his story… When I was a boy, my dad and I used to go fishing with a local fisherman off the Norfolk coast. I absolutely loved being on the sea and so for quite a long time, I wanted to be a fisherman. When I got a bit older I kind of forgot about this and think I may have been slightly put off by watching the TV series ‘World’s Deadliest Catch’! But I have always loved being on the water and spent a lot of time sailing dinghies; I was also a swimming teacher for children back in high school and college. Later, I decided to study medicine and I’m now a final year medical student at the University of Bristol where I completed an intercalated degree; a Masters in Health Sciences Research. I’m now looking forward to starting work as a qualified Doctor in August. Though having spent 6 years training, my next 2 years will be spent working for the required two foundation training years that must be completed before being able to work independently as a Doctor in the UK. At university, I joined the VITA network which is a group dedicated to developing a health and public health approach at the heart of any response to human trafficking and exploitation. I became the blog coordinator for the organisation and you can read the blogs, including those that I have written, here: https://vita-network.com/blog/ In my spare time, I have been involved with the Bristol University Hot Air Ballooning Society and trained through the society to get my Balloon pilots licence. So, I often spend weekends during the summer flying in a leisurely fashion over Bristol and the surrounding area!

That Lightbulb Moment!

by Rachel Smith • 24 Apr, 2024
At Red Square Medical, we’re fascinated by the learning process - it’s key to our business after all. But we often wonder what happens when our students leave the classroom. Do they remember what they’ve learnt? What if they’re faced with a real emergency, will they know what to do? Is there a lightbulb moment when it all clicks into place? Skill fade is a very real issue, as we wrote about in this blog , and we know that setting up drills and practice scenarios when you’re back in your environment, with your kit and crew, can make a massive difference. It’s great to get some feedback from our students too. Last year, we received photos from the Southern Ocean from a solo round the world sailor who was able to successfully steri-strip a cut eyebrow closed. Or the Captain who recognised a heart attack in a crew member because they looked just like the guy he saw in the video on one of our courses.

Worse Things Happen at Sea… a salty tale of dysentery, haemorrhoids, accidents, depression and death!

by Rachel Smith • 03 Apr, 2024
You might wonder about the title of this month’s guest blog, as Worse Things Happen at Sea is also the name of our monthly newsletter. But this month, we’re delighted to introduce Andrew Edwards as our Guest Blogger, and we felt his amazing story about life at sea really deserved a dramatic headline… Dysentery... In the summer of 1966, I was a cadet on a cargo ship that loaded in the UK for 9 ports in West, South and East Africa. Our first port of call was Luanda, the capital of Angola – which was then a colony of Portugal. Next, 300 miles down the coast we called in to Lobito – also in Angola. In Lobito two of the ship's company contracted dysentery; myself and a big Irishman called Reg. The shoreside Doctor we saw simply diagnosed the condition (amoebic dysentery) and said, ‘sorry but I have no antibiotics for this!’. Thankfully the ship’s purser stood our corner and demanded that the Doctor find some. The following day the antibiotics were flown in from the Belgian Congo. The Doctor gave us no advice as to how to deal with the condition, not a word about how contagious it was, not a word as to the importance of thoroughly washing our hands and maintaining scrupulous personal hygiene. Thankfully both Reg and I were quartered just a short sprint from the heads, and we were left to get on with it by our shipmates. It took about a week to get over the dysentery, by which time I had lost several stone in weight and was as weak as a kitten. By the time we arrived in Walvis Bay, South West Africa (now known as Namibia), a further 1000 miles south, I was just about fit enough to play football for the ship against a local team. Their football ground had a main road going right through the middle of it which made for some challenging moments, but they still beat us comfortably and they were playing in bare feet!

How does the Easter Bunny avoid Diabetes?

by Rachel Smith • 20 Mar, 2024
As it’s Easter, we thought that it would be a very appropriate time, what with all that chocolate around, to take a closer look at the subject of Diabetes and why it’s such a huge problem in the UK and across the world. The Easter Bunny always looks so cute and cuddly, but is he a diabetes case waiting to happen? Or does his diet of grass and all that hopping around for the rest of the year make an important difference? According to the WHO, diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease which is characterised by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar). Over time, this leads to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. The most common is type 2 diabetes, and it usually develops with a late onset in adults. It occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn't make enough insulin. Worryingly, in the past 3 decades the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has risen dramatically in countries of all income levels and is closely linked to obesity, poor diet, and an unhealthy lifestyle. Symptoms for type 2 diabetes are generally similar to those of type 1 diabetes (need to urinate often, thirst, constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes and fatigue), but are often less marked. As a result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset, after complications have already arisen. For this reason, it is important to be aware of risk factors. Effective approaches are available to prevent type 2 diabetes and to prevent the complications and premature death that can result from all types of diabetes. These include policies and practices across whole populations and within specific settings (school, home, workplace) that contribute to good health for everyone, regardless of whether they have diabetes, such as exercising regularly, eating healthily, avoiding smoking, and controlling blood pressure and lipids. Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin by itself. Normal onset is in younger people, but can also be in adults. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes include the need to urinate often, thirst, constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes and fatigue. These symptoms may occur suddenly. Type 1 diabetes cannot currently be prevented. It’s thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction which destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. It can also be caused by genetics, viruses, trauma, tumours, removal of the pancreas or other damage to the pancreas. About 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, the majority living in low-and middle-income countries, and 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year. But the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades. The starting point for living well with type one or type 2 diabetes is an early diagnosis – the longer a person lives with undiagnosed and untreated diabetes, the worse their health outcomes are likely to be. Easy access to basic diagnostics, such as blood glucose testing, should therefore be available in primary health care settings. Patients will need periodic specialist assessment or treatment for complications. A series of cost-effective interventions can improve patient outcomes, regardless of what type of diabetes they may have. These interventions include blood glucose control through a combination of diet, physical activity and, if necessary, medication; control of blood pressure and lipids to reduce cardiovascular risk and other complications; and regular screening for damage to the eyes, kidneys and feet to facilitate early treatment.

Reflective Practice and why it’s so important

by Rachel Smith • 21 Feb, 2024
Well, we’ve made it to February! How are your goals for the year going so far? As you’ll know, we do love a bit of goal setting at Red Square Medical HQ. But, we also understand the importance of Reflective Practice too. Especially in relation to setting goals. Want to know more? Please read on…

Guest Blog - Sam Kelly MSA

by Rachel Smith • 07 Feb, 2024
Today we start the first in a series of blogs in conjunction with our friends at the Maritime Skills Academy, and kicking it all off is a Guest Blog from MSAs Head of Training, Sam Kelly. Sam is 37 and lives in southeast Kent, in the quaint seaside town of Deal with with his wife, two children and a ‘Golden Doodle’ called Pringle. He has lived in the area ever since his father, a serving Royal Marine at the Deal Depot, and mother decided this was the place to raise their family. And it is, quite frankly, an excellent place to live. Here is his story… I’m the Head of Training for the Maritime Skills Academy, based in our head office in Dover. I oversee a team of Maritime Safety Instructors who deliver all STCW training for seafarers. Outside the Dover base, we have MSA Gibraltar. This location is operated in partnership with the University of Gibraltar and delivers Basic Safety Training and most recently Operational Firefighting, We are actually in the process of building a state-of-the-art Fire Training Module on ‘the Rock’.

Dry January!

by Rachel Smith • 17 Jan, 2024
So Christmas seems like years ago, and we’re all well into the New Year now. Did you make any resolutions? Some love to, some don’t. At Red Square Medical HQ, we love a goal or two and think the turn of the years can be a good prompt to make some positive changes. But, it’s well known that New Year resolutions don’t last. Forbes magazine tells us that 21% don’t make their resolution stick for even a month. While 34% state that it lasted for between one and three months. Is that a failure though? Or could it be all it takes to make some small changes that have a lasting impact? We thought it would be good to take a closer look at one of the most popular resolutions… Dry January! Now, let’s get one thing straight, the Red Square Medical team are not averse to a tipple or two! But as medics, we’re very aware of the short and long term benefits of giving our livers a little breather every so often. Of course, everyone responds differently to stopping drinking for a month, so the timeline below is just a guide. But it might help you to decide whether it’s a good idea to give the booze a break for a while, or work towards reducing your intake - we know it’s easy for it to creep up over time!

12 months since I left the NHS

by Rachel Smith • 03 Jan, 2024
What I miss most about the Ambulance Service… It’s been 12 months since I left the Ambulance service after 8 years of working frontline, and to be honest it’s flown by. A few weeks ago the team at Red Square Medical HQ were chatting about how life has changed in that time and what, if anything, I was missing from my former life! The list might just surprise you… Most of all, I miss my old colleagues and I definitely miss the patient contact. And driving on blue lights… that was one of the best parts of the job! Working in the ambulance service with regular partners who you get on well with really does create friendships for life. Or even doing a tricky job with someone you don’t know well provides a common bond forever. Every day you’re facing stressful situations and sometimes split second, life changing decisions. You rely on each other totally and make sure you keep each other safe in some difficult and challenging situations. I worked with 3 very different partners most of the time for my last few years and I miss them all. Happily though, I have some great new colleagues at Red Square Medical and Outreach Rescue, the other company that I work for.

Guest Blog - Rachel Smith

by Rachel Smith • 03 Jan, 2024
I was born in a tiny village in Northamptonshire but had a fairly nomadic childhood, eventually settling in the industrial town of St Helens in the north west. As a child I was horse mad, so boats never got a look in. Apparently ‘horse’ was the first word I said and despite the fact that we could never afford a horse, my dream was always to ride and work with horses. It’s perhaps an early indication of my goal-oriented side that I got a Saturday job as soon as I could. At the age of 13, I’d cycle a 12 mile round trip, twice a day, just to go and ‘muck out’ at a local farm where they bred Welsh ponies and Arab horses! There wasn’t even any riding. Later, I found myself working for the family of a young girl who would go on to represent Great Britain in dressage at the Olympics. The work was physically hard and the standards high. No corners were cut and I learnt the skills I needed the old fashioned way. I got to travel all over the UK in the branded horsebox which was pretty exciting for a teenager. But I think I will always be grateful for the solid work ethic and sense of responsibility that this job instilled in me. I always planned to leave school at 16 and go to ride racehorses. But I got quite reasonable exam results and a new degree course was announced in Equine Science and Business which changed the plan. So, after taking the required year out, when I worked in an eventing yard in Yorkshire, I started the 3 year course. For the two work placements, I opted to go abroad, to Italy and the USA, which supercharged my desire to travel. I continued working in the equestrian world for a couple more years, but the poor pay and prospects, plus a dose of pneumonia pushed me onto a different path. I got a job in telemarketing for a bank, and after putting forward the idea of finance for horses, I found myself transferred to Marketing for 6 months. 16 years later, I was still there!

Are they wearing a beer jacket??

by Rachel Smith • 20 Dec, 2023
Christmas is coming and the season of parties is upon us. Of course this means that most of us will overindulge in large amounts of luscious food and, of course, a tipple or two. At Red Square Medical HQ, we have a method of categorising drunk people. During our combined careers, we’ve dealt with more drunks than we can remember; it’s easily running into several hundred. What we’ve learnt, amongst other things, is that most people who are drunk fall into one of these categories. Now please don’t judge as it is purely observation and also makes for an interesting chat when delivering the STCW Medical training, because we all know at least one person from each category and sometimes… a person can be in multiple categories depending on many other factors, or, we might even have been there ourselves! Once we have established these categories there is a serious note to this blog so please do keep reading.
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