As Philippine medics were teaching their Australian counterparts how to make a stretcher out of T-shirts and bamboo poles, Private Melissa Murray started rethinking how she treats patients.
"Most of the time we cut cams in the circulation component," she said.
"But now I'm thinking, if I don't have a stretcher around, I probably shouldn't cut the cams. I should probably use them for a stretcher."
Private Murray also took note of how the Filipinos improvised tourniquets from fabric and a stick, and made chest seals with plastic and tape.
"That's important for us, especially when we have mass casualties. Most of the time we only carry limited stores," she said.
A doctor, nurse and four medics, mostly from 1st Brigade, worked with personnel from the Philippine Army's 4th Infantry Division, as part of a joint training at Camp Kibaritan in Mindanao during May and June.
They were there to provide medical support, but also ran a tactical-care-of-the-combat-casualty course.
This culminated in a training scenario where a pig carcass was shot by the Filipinos to realistically simulate a gunshot wound.
Dubbed 'Private Pig', the patient's wound was dressed by combat first-aiders and evacuated to a field hospital for stabilisation and more advanced procedures.
'It was definitely confronting but that was good because it prepares you for the real thing.'
"Everything we did to the pig carcass we did as if it was a human patient," medical officer Lieutenant Colonel Bob Worswick said.
"We did our best to treat the causality and resuscitate. At one point the CFAs were assisting us in CPR. It made it much more realistic."
Local anaesthetic was given before cutting the skin with sterile skin preparation before an incision.
"It was definitely confronting but that was good because it prepares you for the real thing," Private Murray said.
The Australians also trained the Filipinos on Aussie ultrasound equipment and the Parkland formula that dictates how much fluid is needed to resuscitate burns patients.
A memorable moment for Private Murray was eating a popular Philippine food called Balut, a fertilised egg that's been cooked.
"I think it was about six days old. It wasn't that bad. It just tasted like a bony chicken egg. But I did struggle to eat scrambled eggs after that," she said.
As part of the Joint Australian Training Team - Philippines (JATT-P) program, more than 80 Australian soldiers integrated with about 140 Philippine Army personnel from May 20 to June 23 for the joint training at Camp Kibaritan in Northern Mindanao.
In 2025, JATT-P will involve over 20 training activities and exchanges between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), more than doubling the number of exchanges delivered in 2024.
