Fungus not Arunta’s friend

The sick-bay aboard HMAS Arunta has been kept busy with an increased number of sick-parade turnouts. This is due to heat-related ailments and conditions that have come with working in the Middle East.

“The big one is fungus. We knew before we got up here that fungal infections would be a big one for us. Since then at least 40 of the crew have had some sort of fungal or skin infection due to the heat,” said a member of HMAS Arunta’s medical team.

“Members of the boarding parties are experiencing infections simply because they’re wet a lot of the time,” he said.

However as always, when ADF people find themselves deployed, logistics and resources follow.

“It’s been pretty good. It’s surprising when the ship goes operational how much attention gets paid to you.

“We’re priority number one being up here. If we ask for something, before you know it we’ve got it from Australia.

“Even though this is the most operational we’ve ever been, it has been the easiest in a logistics sense that we’ve ever had it.”

However not even the pointy end of operations is devoid of administration and chores.

“We generally do a hell of a lot of paper work–we do medicals, vaccinations, reports for medical journals, and a lot of data-keeping for records back home.

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