From 1964 to 1972, Australia sent 24 teams of civilian nurses and surgeons to South Vietnam to assist civilian hospitals during the Vietnam war. Existing South Vietnamese nurses and doctors had largely joined the war efforts of the Republic Of Vietnam against the North Vietnamese, leaving civilian hospitals severely understaffed. In 1967, the first South Australian team of civilian nurses and surgeons departed Australia to work in the Bien Hoa Provincial Hospital, where they assisted the hospital staff, treated patients and provided valuable medical expertise and experience.
The civilian teams were organised as part of Australia’s contribution to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation’s (SEATO) Civilian Surgical Medical Team programme. The civilian teams had three overall aims:
- Show a diplomatic gesture by providing Australian aid to the Republic of Vietnam
- Instruct Vietnamese medical and paramedical personnel
- Provide care to any person who entered the hospital
The Heritage Office of the Royal Adelaide Hospital currently holds several detailed first-hand accounts of the 1967 South Australian team and their experiences in Bien Hoa Provincial Hospital, written by the surgical and nursing team personnel. Please see below for links and resources to these items.
South Australian Civilian Nursing and Surgical Team Members 1967
Surgical Staff group, first phase (April 1967 till June 1967)
- Mervyn Smith – Surgeon
- Brian Cornish – Surgeon
- Hugh Douglas – Paediatrician & physician
- John Barker – Anaesthetist
Surgical Staff group, second phase ( July 1967 till October 1967)
- Graham Wilson – Surgeon
- Rod White – Surgeon
- Peter Last – Physician
- Tom Allen – Anaesthetist
Nursing, Medical and Administration (April 1967 till October 1967)
- Douglas Townsend – Senior Surgical Registrar
- John Quirk – Radiographer
- Olga Nichols – Theatre Sister
- Margaret Bolton – Theatre Sister
- Elizabeth Harvey – Theatre Sister
- Jenny Leak – Theatre Sister
- Josephine Griffin – Ward Sister
- Aileen Monck – Ward Sister
- Phil Nurcombe – Administration
Bibliography
- McKay, Gary. & Stewart, Elizabeth., “With healing hands : the untold story of the Australian civilian surgical teams in Vietnam”, Allen & Unwin, 2009.
- Australian Civilian Nurses as Vietnam Veterans , October 2014.
http://www.angellpro.com.au/vietnam.htm - James, Tony. & Bowes, Ray., “Australian Surgical Team – Vietnam”, 2012.
http://tonyjamesnoteworld.biz/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Australian-Surgical-Team-Vietnam.pdf