The Lymington doctor saving lives by clearing mines
AS A GP of many years’ practice, Dr Nigel Reid was used to strange requests – but this one was stranger than most.
A man in his 30s wanted to be tested for Aids and if, as he expected, it proved negative he wanted a certificate to prove it.
Dr Reid (71), from Lymington, was intrigued as to why he needed it. When he asked, he was told that the man, an Army veteran, was about to go to work for the Halo Trust – a charity which clears landmines from countries all over the world.
The charity became well known after Princess Diana’s support for it, posing famously for a photo in the middle of a minefield in Angola in 1997 – an image which quickly went global.
Dr Reid said: “The patient was also about to go to Angola to work for Halo. We got talking about what they do, and I was really interested in it. I asked him whether they ever needed doctors and he said he thought they did.
“I phoned Halo up and was recruited virtually there and then.”
The chance encounter resulted in Dr Reid, from Lymington, spending the past 19 years flying to some of the most dangerous countries in the world to work for Halo.
The trust was founded in Afghanistan in 1988 and is now the world’s largest humanitarian mine action organisation.
Since it was set up, it has cleared a total of 1.5 million landmines, more than 11 million unexploded ordnance and 200,000 cluster bombs.
Before becoming a GP, Dr Reid served as a general surgeon in the Army Medical Corps seeing service in Northern Ireland and Germany. After leaving in 1981 he became a doctor settling on the Isle of Wight where he worked as a volunteer for the RNLI, training crews in first aid and going on rescues if he was needed.
He saw Halo as a chance to see the world as well as enable him to help a very good cause.
Now, nearly two decades later, he can reflect it certainly has done that. He said: “I have been privileged to travel to some of the most interesting places in the world. The work I have undertaken with Halo has been utterly fascinating.
“Halo has a reputation for being first into places and for sticking it out. One of the first jobs I went on was to Somaliland where there was a very big threat of war in the north-east corner of the country.
“All the other NGOs [non-governmental organisations] pulled out, but we stayed. We were always escorted by armed guard. The threat level was high, but I was totally unaware of any personal danger whatsoever.
“I think I was just so keen to get involved in my first operation with Halo. We travelled up to the minefield site that was being cleared and were shown simulated explosion scenarios.
“We had one very experienced combat nurse who showed us the ropes, so to speak. We practised simulated minefield explosions and how you deal with them by evacuating the casualty to a safe place, then set up drips, equipment and administer first aid until you can get the patient to a hospital.”
After that first trip Dr Reid has been to numerous other countries including Myanmar and Cambodia.
His role is to train new paramedics to be part of the mine-clearing – or demining – team, or test that any existing ones are up to standard.
He ensures their equipment is in good order and that the local hospital handling the casevacs – the injured evacuated from the scene – are able to cope with severe trauma. If not, Dr Reid finds one that can.
He also makes sure that the demining medical teams are keeping accurate records which he says are crucial.
His other role is educating the local population about the dangers of minefields and unexploded ordnance which still covers massive areas of land in previously war-torn countries.
The Halo workers he has met are “amongst the most incredible people I have had the pleasure to come to know” says Dr Reid.
“Their dedication is astonishing. Especially considering how dangerous the work they do is, I find it humbling when I meet them.
“They are so cheerful and happy all the time. Some of them are amputees themselves, people who have lost a leg, or arm in an explosion and now they are out clearing minefields.
“All the Halo workers are fantastic people operating in very inhospitable conditions. Temperatures during the day can be above 45C and even at night the heat can be intolerable. Dust storms can blow up any time.
He continued: “The conditions they have to live under are severe. Home for months is a basic tent in a harsh environment.
“I can remember being in one tent and looking out and just seeing these clouds of mosquitos.
“Staff need to be aware of keeping healthy as disease can spread quickly. There is always a high risk of infection so inoculations, anti-malaria tablets, etc, are really important.”
“Last year we lost a young female operative to dengue fever, and the risk of poisonous snake bites in some countries is very high too.”
Travelling around the countries can also be extremely dangerous. Dr Reid said: “They don’t tend to have very good traffic regulations in place, so we make sure our teams are trained in dealing with mass casualties in case of road accidents.”
Speaking about the deminers, Dr Reid said: “Their expertise and bravery is second to none.
“We employ local people, and the training is of such a high standard that our safety record is actually pretty good, as good as anybody else in the field, if not better.”
Around 8,500 people are now employed by Halo worldwide. Many of them are women.
Dr Reid revealed: “The wars in these countries have left a lot of widows. They need employment as many have children to support. In Laos more than half our workforce is female.
“In Cambodia it is around the same percentage – that is a big difference from when we started.
“A big motivation for the women is to make their countries safe again. People are dying from being blown up while working on farms, so many families who own them can’t return to gain an income.
“Children on their way to school are being killed. Normal life has been destroyed for these people by these evil devices left littering their countries.
“One village in Zimbabwe is literally surrounded by mines. It’s on the Mozambique border and is one of the most dangerous places in the world.
“There is a dense, dense minefield around it, it is horrendous actually. Contrast that with Mozambique which is mine-free now.
“That’s what we want to achieve with every country, but it is a massive, massive task.”
The Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 – something for which Princess Diana campaigned – set the year 2025 by which every country signed up to it should be mine-free.
To reach that milestone organisations like Halo need proper funding to be able to employ the necessary workforce.
Dr Reid said: “A lot of these countries don’t have a lot of money themselves, so organisations like ours rely heavily on international donors.”
The US is the top contributor to minefield clearance, second is the UK. The charity is also becoming increasingly dependent on donations from the public who are become more and more aware of just how much of a threat landmines still pose.
Apart from clearing mines Halo also deals with unexploded ordnance and clearing battlegrounds of ammunition and weapons which are then destroyed.
In Laos there is huge danger from cluster bombs which contain dozens of bomblets – small metal balls capable of exploding and causing devastating injury.
Dr Reid points to a photo of one saying: “They are vicious little things. Children are especially at risk from them, they look like something interesting to play with.
“They were also dropped over school playgrounds and other areas kids play in. Part of Halo’s work is to go into schools and educate children about the dangers of this kind of ordnance, mines and IEDs – improvised explosive devices.
“We teach them what they look like and that they must not touch them, instead report where they are to an adult.”
Dr Reid says he is hopeful that the 2025 mine-free target will be achieved, pointing to the success Halo have already had in many countries.
In Angola they have destroyed almost 100,000 landmines, and in Zimbabwe more than 75,000 have been cleared since 2013.
In Columbia 700 of the country’s 1,122 municipalities once had landmine fields. Now, thanks to Halo and other landmine clearing organisations, 391 of those are now certified as mine-free.
One of the countries worst affected by landmines is Cambodia where there are more than 25,000 amputees living with the devastating consequences of the Khmer Rouge’s terrible legacy.
Children are still having to walk to school along paths littered either side by deadly landmines. Halo operatives are clearing hundreds of the deadly devices a month.
In Angola, the area Princess Diana visited – Huambo – is now a thriving community.
Last year Prince Harry visited Huambo to see for himself what Halo has achieved in the area.
Dr Reid welcomes his involvement, saying: “I think it is good that he is continuing his mother’s work and is drawing attention to what is still a terrible problem affecting so many countries around the world.
He says he hopes to continue working for Halo “as long as I possibly can” adding: “I was so fortunate that patient came in that day with his strange request otherwise I might have missed out on two decades of what has been immensely rewarding and fascinating work.”
To find out more about Halo’s work or donate, visit www.Halotrust.org/get-involved/give/donate/
