A TOP consultant surgeon is in training to become a reserve soldier and will be deployed to treat those shot and seriously injured in warzones and global disasters.

Robert Salaman, 51, is a consultant vascular surgeon at Royal Blackburn Hospital who conducts a range of complicated life-saving procedures every day.

Mr Salaman, who lives in Whalley, has bolstered strong links between the hospital trust and the Armed Force Reservists by volunteering.

He said: “I’ve thought about becoming a reservist since medical school but my surgical training always took priority.

“Now, as a consultant, I wanted a new and different challenge.

“My role with the army is as a surgeon.

“Those in particular professions like healthcare, IT and various technical jobs can join as professionally qualified officers.

“This means they are joining not just to be a soldier but to work in the forces in their established ‘trade’.

“I’m joining as a surgeon attached to the 207 field hospital in Manchester.”

Mr Salaman’s commitment is between 19 and 27 days a year made up of occasional evenings, weekends and an annual two-week camp.

Deployment to a conflict or disaster zone is separate and could be three to six months.

The forces have secure arrangements with the NHS to ensure his job is held open.

Mr Salaman said: “Depending on where the deployment is a the cases I will treat will vary.

“It’s likely that I will be treating both military and civilian victims of conflict with bullet and blast injuries.”

“In a civil disaster it may be more blunt trauma.

“As a senior surgeon, I’m likely to be required in a large field hospital which are usually situated in a safe zone even if it is close to conflict.”

Mr Salaman has undergone weapons training and his first two weeks of basic training and will need to complete another two week course at Sandhurst before he is fully commissioned.

He said: “A lot of my basic training was what you might call basic soldiering; wearing the uniform, keeping kit in order, weapons training, physical fitness, map reading and military law and ethics and standards.

“I can’t be deployed until I have completed my second training course next March.

“Many of my colleagues in the reserves were deployed to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan where there was a large field hospital.

“If a similar situation arose in the future I could be deployed.

“Others have been deployed to Sierra Leone to help with the Ebola outbreak.”