Squadron Leader Paul Andrews participates in a medical drill at Basra Air Station recently in southern Iraq.

BASRA AIR STATION — A Royal Air Force officer at Basra Air Station in southern Iraq is used to anchoring oil rigs to the ocean floor, but he’s spent the last two months patching-up soldiers and airmen at this large British base near the Persian Gulf.

Flight. Lt. Paul Andrews switched from a role as troubleshooter on oil rigs to being a military doctor, applying his trade on the front-lines.

He just finished a two-month assignment at a medical center at Basra Air Station, gaining promotion to squadron leader at the same time.

Andrews, who joined the RAF in 1999, said he’s always been interested in geology. During his medical school studies at The University of Nottingham, in the United Kingdom, he spent holidays working as a freelancer, stabilizing off-shore oil platforms and overseeing undersea construction.

"The PhD was in earthquake assessment. I wanted to work with earthquakes because that's where people are involved big-time with geology," he said.

 "I joined the RAF because I wanted to put something back, and as a Christian I believe in positive citizenship and duty. And I met people in the (military) services who impressed me with their approach to life," he said.

Andrews said he has never been bored as a doctor working here. He’s spent every third day in Iraq on 24-hour call for the Incident Response Team, a group of medics who stay ready to treat wounded on short notice.

"It is stressful as you never know what you might get called out to deal with," he said.

He said a nurse and a medic always deploy with the team when responding to a call, but the doctor only goes when someone has suffered a severe injury. A helicopter is always on standby a few yards from the team’s operating room. They can be airborne in about 15 minutes, Andrews said.

"But it’s a long 100 meters when you’ve got a lot of kit (gear) to carry," said Sgt. Nichola Underwood, an RAF nurse and second-in-command of the IRT.

"It’s even harder at night with the poor lighting.”

Andrews is also the Aeromedical Evacuation Coordinating officer, the point of contact for all casualties leaving Basra in route to further treatment elsewhere.

He admitted that his work here is a far cry from jetting around the world doing off-shore work.

"Then, I was stopping oil-rigs from falling over and carrying out under-sea construction," said Andrews.