It is used to highlight to any medical personnel that I need extra attention in the event of me collapsing or going into spasms or something. Not sure what more extra attention I could get, maybe an immediate heli-evac, no questions asked?
This was back in my final six months based in 2SIR when we were training for the AHM (Army Half Marathon) which was a 21km run.
I don't have much memory of what happened, and till today I can only recall bits and pieces of the incident akin to a patient in comatose opening his eyes seeing one scene, then closing his eyes and reopening them to see a completely different scene.
I apparently collapsed near the end point of one of our regular practice runs, and thankfully there were medics nearby to give me immediate attention. I had fainted and was shipped in stretcher on an army rover to the nearest medical centre where I was put on an IV fluid drip and I faintly remember having my shirt cut open in the chest area and pressed with ice, with doctors shouting all around me. When I finally came to, I was resting in the medical hospital and told that I suffered a heat injury during the exercise. No other details.
I stayed there for a day and by the next day I was discharged and sent back to rest in my bunk and forced to consume lots of liquids and to report regularly to the medical center for further observation. Was also excused exercise for a week.
I was consequently pulled of that year's AHM run, which was a good thing for me. I don't think my parents were ever informed, and since it happened on a weekday during my stay-in period, I don't even remember mentioning it to them before. I was up and about quickly and it all seemed trivial to me at that time since I couldn't wait to be exercising again.
Who'd think this would crop up almost 20 years later?
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