Sqdn/Ldr Sarah Charters

NURSING Officer Sqdn/Ldr Sarah Charters was in charge of the emergency department of the Role 3 Camp Bastion Hospital in Afghanistan at a time when admissions were soaring. On her latest tour there were 44 British deaths in three and a half months, as well as fatalities among American and Danish troops and Afghan children, and more than 200 patients a week. On an hourly basis she was presented with men and women whose lives hung by the thinnest of threads. She dealt with the emotional and physical strain and stress coolly and calmly, throwing herself into her task with enthusiasm and helping to save hundreds of lives. Squadron Leader Charters, 42, whose regular job is a consultant nurse practitioner in emergency care at Southampton General Hospital, said: "I couldn't have achieved anything without the goodwill and hard work of my whole team. In Afghanistan we are dealing with young people with major, life-threatening trauma.