Officer hurt

cyrusdvirus

Apparently an officer was seriosly injured last night in a live fire training incident in Cork.

Hope he's gonna be ok

Trojan911

Saw that this morning on my homepage.

Not a regular occurance by the sounds of it, or does this happen every now & then?

Hope it's not to serious.

wrote:

Soldier seriously injured during training exercise
on 04/06/2009 07:57:27

A soldier has been seriously injured during an overnight training exercise in Co Cork.

The officer was working as a safety umpire during a night-firing exercise at Kilworth when he received blast injuries.

He was rushed to Cork University Hospital by Army paramedics and is said to be in a critical but stable condition.

He is expected to undergo surgery later.

The scene of the incident has been preserved while the Military Police investigate what went wrong.

Source

BigDuffman

Thoughts and prayers with himself his fmaily. Hope he pull through alright. Curious choice of words in article, "Blast" injuries during night-fire ex?? Probably just the papers not getting their tems right.

Morpheus

maybe grenade range either so could be anything, either way I hope he's ok.

BigDuffman

Just heard there that it may have been from the back blast off a SRAAW. So he is suffering from burns from the blast.

Terrible accident. Here's hoping that the damage isn't too intensive and can be treated successfully.

Morpheus

christ.... hope its not too bad...


This is all pure speculation, lets hope he recovers and that the army get to the bottom of this, but.... if this is indeed what has happened, then this happened not so long ago...

An officer from the brugha was hurt when she was caught in the backblast of a SRAAW in the glen last year.


This is taken from November 9 2008

http://www.tribune.ie

A FEMALE safety supervisor was seriously injured after being caught in the back blast of an anti-tank weapon during a military exercise.

The lieutenant, a live fire tactical training safety supervisor, got caught in the blast zone behind the weapon as it was being fired in the Glen of Imaal in Co Wicklow.

Her face, arms and legs were burned and she was hit by shrapnel, which left her needing over 80 stitches.

The Defence Forces said the woman was recovering well at home and is expected back on duty by the start of December. The accident happened on 22 October.

"She was one of the people in charge of overseeing the safe operation of weapons on the range but obviously something went very wrong," said an army source.

"You would need to be standing within 10 metres of the weapon to suffer these type of injuries but if you were extremely close the damage would be more severe. This is the type of weapon you could not use in a confined environment and you would not want to be standing anywhere behind it when fired."

Personnel trained to handle the anti-tank weapon are warned of the potentially fatal consequences of being caught in the back blast.

"The officer involved was a lieutenant based at Cathal Brugha Barracks, Rathmines, and she was injured by the back blast from a short-range anti-armour weapon (SRAAW) during a live fire tactical training exercise," said Captain Pat O'Connor.

The AT4 SRAAW, introduced by the Defence Forces in 1997, is one of the most common anti-tank weapons in the world.

Craigsy

Jesus thats an awful injury, Thoughts go out to the injured, his family, and comrades

Trojan911

A recent update...

wrote:

Injured soldier set for more surgery
on 04/06/2009 13:54:12


Further details have emerged regarding last night's training injury to Lieutenant Kenneth Sheehan at Kilworth, Co Cork. Further details have emerged regarding last night's training injury to Lieutenant Kenneth Sheehan at Kilworth, Co Cork.

Sheehan, 29, from Cork City, has undergone surgery this morning at Cork University Hospital, where he was treated for has injuries to his right arm, chest and face. His condition is described as critical and he is expected to undergo further surgery.

Lt. Sheehan is engaged to be married. His parents and fiancée are with him at Cork University Hospital.

Lt Sheehan joined the Defence Forces in 2002. He is a Communications officer, but is attached to the local Brigade Training Centre as an instructor with a training course of 38 students and 14 instructors.

He has served overseas in Liberia in November 2005 (94 Infantry Battalion, UNMIL) and last year in Chad in March 2008 (97 Infantry Battalion, EUFOR). He is based in Collins Barracks, Cork with 1 Field Communications and Information Services Company.

The military investigation into this incident is ongoing. The Bofors AT-4 is a small, shoulder launched rocket that has been in service with the army since 1998.

This weapon has been fired in training thousands of times to date, and was fired last night from a set position to a fixed target. All firing of this weapon has ceased with immediate effect pending the outcome of this investigation.

There has been one previous incident in a live fire, movement exercise (in October 2008) where a safety umpire received injuries that required hospitalisation, but not with serious injury to the soldier concerned.

The Defence Forces said that it wishes Ken and his family well with his recovery and the thoughts of the entire military family are with them all.

Source

Morpheus

It is extremely dangerous to not observe the backblast precautions with this weapon...

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-23-25/appa.htm

pmg58

Hope he gets well soon, I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of a SRAAW backblast.

Local-womanizer

Hope he recovers

http://www.military.ie/dfhq/pubrel/news/2009/june/new04junes.htm

Conor108

Indo Link

update:

A YOUNG lieutenant who suffered horrific injuries in an Army night-firing accident is recovering after major surgery.

Lieutenant Kenneth Sheehan (29) remains in a critical but stable condition after suffering extensive blast injuries during the infantry training exercise at Lynch Camp outside Kilworth in North Cork last Wednesday night.

The officer -- who hails from Cork city and is based at Collins Barracks -- was working as a safety umpire when he was caught in the blast from an anti-tank weapon.
The Bofors AT-4 weapon -- known as a SRAAW (Short Range Anti-Armour Weapon) -- is similar to an anti-tank rocket launcher and wields an extremely powerful warhead.

It is understood the officer was injured by the weapon's propellant -- which burns at an extremely high temperature.

The 29-year old received emergency medical treatment at the scene before being transferred to Cork University Hospital by ambulance.

He suffered serious blast injuries to his face, chest, neck and arms. The lieutenant underwent emergency surgery on Thursday. Lieut Sheehan's family were continuing to maintain a vigil by his bedside.

Defence Minister Willie O'Dea expressed his deep concern for the young officer and his family.

A Military Police (MP) investigation remains ongoing into the cause of the tragic accident.

A Defence Forces spokesman said that all such exercises were very carefully planned and subject to safety procedures.

rednik

Sound like he will be scarred for life, hopefully he will pull through. My thoughts are with him and his family.

Manic Moran

Was there no warning that the rocket was about to be fired? In the US we have someone yell "Backblast area clear!" before firing.

NTM

Jonty

Manic Moran wrote: »

Was there no warning that the rocket was about to be fired? In the US we have someone yell "Backblast area clear!" before firing.

NTM

There should have been here too. The firer declaeres it. Best wishes to him and his family.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Manic Moran wrote: »

Was there no warning that the rocket was about to be fired? In the US we have someone yell "Backblast area clear!" before firing.

NTM

Do you wear double hearing protection in the US?.

(making you almost completely deaf - in my case).

Last I heard the officer is in an induced coma.

Manic Moran

Do you wear double hearing protection in the US?.

Fair point. Just plugs. Though incidents like this should serve to highlight the safety dangers of reducing the ability to hear beyond that required to avoid damage due to particularly loud noises. (And even at that, AT4s aren't actually all that loud). Warnings about anything, from going outside the range fan to 'look out, there's a car coming at you!' are not going to be all that effective without hearing if you're not looking in the right direction.

NTM

Hard Larry

Manic Moran wrote: »

Was there no warning that the rocket was about to be fired? In the US we have someone yell "Backblast area clear!" before firing.

NTM

Yep there is always a warning given its SOP in the drills.

But accidents happen no matter how many control/safety measures you impose.

Heres hoping he'll pull through. Reports are getting better.

My thoughts and prayers are also with the chap who pressed the trigger.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

goldie fish

Some reports are saying the SRAAW was being fired remotely. I seem to remember it can be set to operate as an area denial weapon, I didn't realise we were using it here.

Heard from one of his friends yesterday that though his injuries are severe, and he will have a long recovery ahead of him, the prognosis is good.

iceage

All I know is that I wouldn't want to be stood behind or slightly off side when one was lit up. Lets hope he comes out of this well, a simple lapse in communication and we all know accidents happen.

Great staff at Cork University Hospital, he's in good hands.

Poccington

Manic Moran wrote: »

Fair point. Just plugs. Though incidents like this should serve to highlight the safety dangers of reducing the ability to hear beyond that required to avoid damage due to particularly loud noises. (And even at that, AT4s aren't actually all that loud). Warnings about anything, from going outside the range fan to 'look out, there's a car coming at you!' are not going to be all that effective without hearing if you're not looking in the right direction.

NTM

When firing the SRAAW, our drills involve issuing a verbal warning just before firing. Even with double hearing protection you can still hear commands, especially since most people just cup their hearing protecting.

Whatever the reasons behind this particular accident happening, I hope that the Lt. makes a quick recovery.

cyrusdvirus

Any word on this officer? Is he still in that induced coma or concious again?

And i second what Hard larry said, thoughts are also with the trigger man, he can't be feeling too good about himself at this time.