Though Maria Victoria Juan's father was a colonel in the Philippines army, she had little exposure to the army way of life. She never lived in a base or cantonment and had no particular interest in the armed forces. But everything changed when one of her aunts, a young military nurse, died of combat wounds after her aircraft was hijacked.
This left a profound mark on Juan, a consultant at the Philippine Army Health Services and a colonel in the Reserve Force Armed Forces. Juan recently won the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award and was in Bengaluru to receive it. “This award is not my personal win but a win for the Philippine military nurses,” she told THE WEEK.
Juan joined the army as a junior officer. The Philippines was going through a tough time when she joined the army and there were frequent domestic combat operations. She used to see about 30 casualties a week. “They were directly evacuated from the combat zones and brought to the hospital. I could see them bloodied and they had not eaten for days together. The blast injuries were the most extensive wounds. I learnt how important it was to comforting them before treating them,” she said.
She had brought in many new equipment and practices to the army. And she had to fight hard for it. “I had put in that extra effort to convince the senior officers how a new equipment will benefit them in the long run and help in the survival of our soldiers,” she said. She recalled an occasion when she got the permission to import medical surgical trucks with containers that could expand to operating rooms. It cost a few millions dollars for each truck. She prepared a prototype and presented it to her seniors and convinced them.
As the chief nurse of the Philippine army, Juan was responsible for initiating the first aeromedical evacuation system in the forces. This system has greatly improved survival rates by enabling rapid evacuation and early treatment of casualties, especially in conflict areas. From conceptualisation, planning, budgeting to assembling a team of doctors, nurses and aviation personnel, she ensured the successful development of the aeromedical evacuation system. She collaborated with the army aviation and the office of the army surgeon to come out with an aero medical air ambulance. “The sole purpose was to evacuate the soldiers. It is now enough for two patients who can be carried over long distances. It is a helicopter which has a ventilator plus the most modern oxygen support,” she said.
Juan had an intensive nine-month long aeromedical evacuation training that included 200 hours of emergency ambulance conduction, 100 hours of clinical duty, one-mile ocean swim, three-day jungle survival, helicopter underwater escape and flight medical runs.
Her husband is a former naval officer. They have a son and a daughter. After a period of service, Juan had the opportunity to leave the army for more lucrative offers and even had a US green card. But she wanted to serve her country. “I was satisfied by serving the military,” she said.