Reserves Day 2021: saving lives in Kenya
Corporal Marshall is a critical care paramedic with the South East Coast Ambulance Service. She joined the RAF Reserves in 2016, and now serves on 4626 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron based at RAF Brize Norton
In 2016, Corporal Marshall joined the RAF Reserves on top of her civilian role as a critical care paramedic with the South East Coast Ambulance Service. As a teenager, Corporal Marshall wanted to join the Royal Air Force as a Regular but she went in a different direction and studied Paramedic Science at University.
Since joining the Reserves, she has undertaken critical work, including a four month deployment with the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK), supporting the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT).
On a routine day on the base in Kenya, Corporal Marshall was called out to a civilian road traffic accident. She took charge on the scene, and administered life-saving care to a child who had suffered serious injuries.
Her knowledge, experience and leadership skills meant that she was able to prepare the child for a 90-minute flight to the hospital in Nairobi where he spent several weeks recovering.
Earlier this year, Corporal Marshall received a commendation from the Chief of the Defence Staff for the role that she played in saving the child’s life.
“It’s great to have a bit of closure when you’re involved in these nasty jobs. The last thing I remember of him was handing him over to the doctors at the hospital, and this was a broken child. To see him sat up in bed, smiling weeks down the line, it’s nice to know that you can make a difference.”
— Corporal Marshall
Corporal Marshall now enjoys the best of both worlds — training in the NHS and the RAF is different but mutually beneficial.
“I get to learn military skills and work with the forces but then I also get to come and have the NHS experience and further my career in the civilian world.”
— Corporal Marshall
Reserves Day 2021 demonstrates the important role that all of our Reservists carry out around the globe, and their continued hard work to keep the UK safe both at home and abroad 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
