AN ARMY Reservist from Kendal swapped his day job as a paramedic to train alongside US Navy personnel in sun-drenched California.

Lance Corporal Graham Park normally works for the North West Ambulance Service in South Lakeland, but in his spare time serves with 208 (Liverpool) Field Hospital as a combat medic.

He was one of around a hundred soldiers from 208 Field Hospital who travelled to San Diego, California, where, for the first time, British medics were put through their paces by US Navy medics in an exercise designed to test how they perform in a new post-Afghanistan role.

Unlike their civilian counterparts, their Army medics must know how to build their own hospital from scratch.

Graham, who has served in Afghanistan, said: “We’ve been building a field hospital from scratch on the dirt ground here; building the tents up, fitting them out with our equipment, installing the air conditioning and then running it as a hospital - practicing the treatment side of the job as well.”

In recent years, Field Hospital training has revolved around the purpose-built British military hospital which ran at Camp Bastion, in Afghanistan. But the profession is now returning to its original role of treating the sick and injured under canvas, at short notice anywhere in the world alongside partner nation medics – such as those from the US.

Graham, 53, who has been a reservist for 10 years, said: “In Afghanistan, we used a purpose built permanent hospital, now we are having to re-learn this temporary form which we are likely to be using in future campaigns.”

He added: “My family are used to me being away on these exercises and deployments, and they know I get a lot of being in the Army Reserve; I’ve had a lot of adventures with the Reserves and done a lot of interesting things; I’ve been to California twice, Gibraltar and learned to ski through the Army.”

During his latest trip to California, also found time for kayaking, climbing and horse-riding in Nevada’s Spring Mountains.