Mirbat and the FST
It goes without saying that the FST is there to treat the wounded. What, however, is the outcome for those who were treated at the FST? The chances of leaving the FST alive if you arrived there alive were somewhere in the region of 98%. If you had been wounded at Mirbat what were your chances of being back to the front line in six weeks?
The surgery undertaken in the FST was Damage Limitation Surgery. It made the cavities safe and stopped any haemorrhage. Reconstructive surgery came later at a facility further up the line if you were a Brit but nearby if you were a local
Critical review of the records allowed me to come up with the charts presented below. Criteria for returning or not returning to the front line included the wound and whether or not the patient was adoo [A]
I have tried to give an opinion of whether or not there was much possibility that the wounded might return to being a useful soldier in a relatively short period of time.
The vertical axis indicates the duration of the operation
Red bar indicates that you could not return and green that you probably could.
‘A’ indicates that the patient was adoo.
Patient ‘1’ died some months later in hospital in the UK.
Patients ‘5’,’7′ and ’13’ would have not been able to return to the frontline in six weeks for medical reasons except that experience showed that the Omanis sometimes showed extraordinary capacity for recuperation.
Patient ’21’ possibly could have returned to the frontline in six weeks. l
