Torygraph:
British medics in Helmand buy own dressings
Medics on the front line in Afghanistan are so short of life-saving equipment they have to buy items on the internet, Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, has been told.
The aunt of a combat medic working in Helmand province informed Mr Browne that her nephew had to buy two £10 chest seals from a website.
The scandal of poor medical provision comes after The Daily Telegraph disclosed this week that casualty rates in Afghanistan and Iraq were close to passing the 11 per cent rate sustained by units in the Second World War.
The troops are still experiencing kit shortages more than a year after deploying to Afghanistan despite Tony Blair's promise that the military would have any equipment it needed before he left office.
In a letter to Mr Browne, Alison Wiltshire, the aunt of the medic she names only as "Dan", quoted directly from a letter he sent her. He wrote: "If the public knew what was happening out here then they would demand an end to it instantly."
Colleagues would die unnecessarily because a lack of funding meant that he was ill-equipped to deal with emergencies, the soldier said.
A pouch containing vital first aid equipment was taken from him and "given to people in more hostile areas".
"What do we have to treat them? Well I have nothing, despite being a team medic."
Miss Wiltshire, from north London, told Mr Browne: "I am utterly appalled that we are sending young men and women to war without even the most basic of medical care. This Government should be ashamed of itself."