Battlefield lessons for healthcare

Focus, being adaptable, and staying resilient are all qualities needed to survive on a battlefield – as well as inside a hospital.

Major Matina Jewell (Retired) will be sharing her life and army experiences with attendees of the APHA 41st National Congress being held on the Gold Coast in April.

During her 15-year military career, Ms Jewell served on five missions and earned nine military service and war medals.

She is the only Australian to receive two Republic of Lebanon war medals, for acts of bravery on the battlefield and being wounded in combat while on a United Nations (UN) peace-keeping mission. 

She was also the first woman in the Australian Army to complete the physically-demanding Navy divers' course, and served with the American Navy Seals.

"War is an extreme environment, but it's amazing how a lot of the military experience and lessons learned there can be applicable to all people, no matter the industry," she said.

"Through COVID there are so many lessons from the military that were applicable. So many industries and businesses had to change and adapt, and often they were doing that for the first time.

"On a battlefield, there are elements you can't control – you can't control the enemy's actions, the terrain, you have to constantly focus on what you can control.

"And during COVID that happened to everyone, control what you can, as well as being aware of the government restrictions.

"That loss of control can be very frustrating, but you have to keep going and remove those expectations of what is normally in your control.

"Frontline staff were fatigued, so you have to work out how do you keep going, what's the next 'deployment', how do we plan for the next mission, or in this case, the next pandemic. You must build up that resilience."

Ms Jewell said being able to shift perspective, and accept situations for what they were, was crucial to success.

"My last mission in Lebanon was meant to be a peace-keeping mission, but all of a sudden it turned into World War Three, and we had all kinds of fire coming at us," she said.

"You can't hold on to, 'Oh this is not the way it's supposed to be', you have to go, 'Okay, now we're in danger and how do we operate in this zone, how do we keep everyone safe and get home alive?'"

Ms Jewell, who has become a best-selling author since her medical retirement from service, said those dangerous times had made her the person she was today.

"Those extreme moments shape you, hopefully into a better human being, with more compassion," she said.

"I definitely look at the world through a different lens – I wake up and think we're so lucky, there's no bombs dropping here, I can get my kids to school safely, which is not the reality for a lot of people in the world right now; you only have to turn on the news to see that.

"It's about being thankful for what we have, and to have that perspective, and to choose the lens we see the world through. Here in Australia, we can have that choice."

Ms Jewell is also a founding ambassador for Project Thankful, a movement partnered with the United Nations to help empower women and children globally.

"They do a number of projects around the world, and for me, it's rewarding and nice to still have that connection to the UN," she said.

"For women, there's still a long way to go – you only have to see the news about the gender pay gap that came out recently.

"For my daughters, they're young enough that they don't even understand why this should even be an issue, so hopefully for the next generation this won't be a problem."

Ms Jewell will give her keynote speech on day two of the APHA 41st National Congress, which runs from Wednesday 10 April to Friday 12 April 2024.

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6/3/2024 Private health insurance premium increases should go to hospitals