Volume 49, No. 23, December 14, 2006
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STAY
UPRIGHT: Cadets at TS Bundaberg were supplied
with jelly babies and cups of water to prevent heat
stress.
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By
Graham Davis
There
is nothing more embarrassing for a service man or woman
in uniform than fainting and crashing to the ground while
on parade.
The embarrassment is heightened when the collapse occurs
before VIPs and is accompanied by the clatter of a weapon
slamming into the bitumen.
Minimising parade ground collapses has led to officers and
parents at the Australian Navy Cadet training ship TS Bundaberg
exploring ways of protecting their teenage cadets.
They have come up with many.
One of their procedures is to have a supply of jelly babies
close at hand so that one of the lollies can be slipped
to a cadet showing signs of distress.
When TS Bundaberg was named the best ANC cadet unit in Australia
for 2006, 70 cadets faced an hour on the parade ground while
the Chief of Navy, VADM Russ Shalders, AO, CSC, RAN, presented
the
winner’s shield and the unit went through a series
of marches, inspections and ceremonial procedures.
The parade took place on November 25 and staff and parents
knew the mercury was likely to climb to 33 degrees.
As one staffer said, “ firstly we made sure they had
a good breakfast.
“We made sure they drank a lot of water and we boosted
this by giving them watermelon.
“We needed for them to have plenty of fluid in their
bodies.
“We also had plenty of jelly babies in our pockets
so we could give them to anyone who appeared in distress.”
The officers also re-inforced long established rules to
“wiggle your toes” and “flex your knees”
when standing for long periods.
The staff also introduced a system of runners, in Bundaberg’s
case members of the Salvation Army, to carry cups of water
to those on parade.
Just one young cadet went down on one knee and he was quickly
tended and remained on parade.
