Medical Technician, Leading Aircraftwoman Raegan Lester’s work on training improvements for a patient stretcher system has resulted in her being named as a recipient of the 2023 Air Force Safety Awards.
Posted to 2 Expeditionary Health Squadron (2EHS) at RAAF Base Darwin, Leading Aircraftwoman Lester has been acknowledged for her individual contribution (as a person not holding a formal safety appointment) to improving safety in deployable surface evacuation health capabilities.
Leading Aircraftwoman Lester made training-related safety improvements to the FERNO patient stretcher system – used across Air Force’s fleet of land cruiser ambulances – after noticing the basic training that most personnel received wasn’t sufficient.
“I recognised a need for additional training mainly because of the sheer number of safety critical incidents that were occurring with the stretchers,” she said.
“Looking at the evidence and having the system fail on myself a few times, I was convinced that we had to develop a better understanding of how to keep people safe from injury while using the stretchers.”
“The stretchers we use aren’t the fancy electric ones that our civilian counterparts use. Our ones rely on spring ergonomics and wheel mechanisms, and so require a lot of manual handling and physical strength from the operators.
Leading Aircraftwoman Lester worked on enhancing the manufacturer’s existing training package for the stretcher system.
“Doing a review of the existing training gave me the opportunity to refine the manual handling techniques needed to safely use the stretchers under a range of different weights and environmental conditions.
“I also looked at and problem-solved some of the most common faults and failures that were happening with the stretchers, and integrated these fixes into the training.”
In addition to the manufacturer’s training, the annual induction program at 2EHS now also includes the specific manual handling and troubleshooting procedures devised by Leading Aircraftwoman Lester. Wing Commander Sonya Beyer, Commanding Officer 2EHS, said Leading Aircraftwoman Lester’s efforts had resulted in reduced manual handling injuries in the unit and helped its people to conduct their deployed and base roles.
Born in Sydney and raised in Goulburn and Queanbeyan, Leading Aircraftwoman Lester was surprised to receive the award.
“I’m so grateful to be recognised! These changes have improved the safety of healthies and patients alike, but I wouldn’t have been able to set the wheels in motion without all the people who guided me and gave me their advice,” she said.
Prior to joining Air Force in 2016, Leading Aircraftwoman Lester worked in the patient wards of Calvary Public Hospital Bruce and Canberra Hospital, then in the oncology and haematology departments at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.
Leading Aircraftwoman Lester joined Air Force to challenge herself and to continue developing skills in the health setting.
“I love being a MEDTECH in Defence because of all the different people I get to meet, work with, learn from and help, and all the amazing places we get to travel to.”
