Dr. Hannah receives Order of Military Merit – Congratulations!
Dr. Richard Hannah, a member of MHC’s Clinical Resource Team, was recently in Ottawa with his family to be awarded the Order of Military Merit (Officer) by Her Excellency the Right Honorable Mary Simon Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hannah was nominated for the award by a nurse, a long-time colleague and friend, in large part for his role in the development of aeromedical evacuation capabilities in the Canadian Forces.
His initial involvement in long distance aeromedical evacuation began in 2007. At that time, he was deployed to Landstuhl Germany where he cared for and coordinated the safe movement of hundreds of soldiers, wounded in Afghanistan, safely home to Canada.
Later in his career he was asked to develop a novel forward aeromedical evacuation capability that involved putting critical care emergency medicine on board large military helicopters to enable patient resuscitation between the point of injury and advanced surgical care. This new Canadian capability was then deployed to Mali in 2018 – 2019 in order to support a UN security mission. This type of critical care capability continues to evolve and provides care both internationally and domestically.
Additionally, Dr. Hannah and his team designed and procured an isolation system for the transportation by air of people with infectious diseases that are a severe threat to public health. This capability, eventually called the Aeromedical Bio-containment Evacuation System (ABES), looks like a sea container that functions like a “negative pressure hospital room and is placed in large military transport aircraft.” It has the capacity for up to 3 ICU patients, or multiple lower acuity patients.” The ABES keeps the airplane clean and alleviates any fear of pilots or other aircrew of becoming infected.
The ABES was initially conceived as a contingency to transport Canadian public health workers who were treating people and doing research on Ebola virus in Africa. However, during the COVID epidemic, this capability was used to move Canadian patients from areas of Canada with overwhelmed ICUs to other areas that had ICU capacity and to move critically ill Canadian COVID patients’ home from foreign postings. The capability remains on standby in case it is needed for any future significant infectious disease.
The military brought Dr. Hannah to Winnipeg in 2013, where he was employed as the medical director for search and rescue, aeromedical evacuation, aeromedical standards and advisor to the Commander of the Operational Airforce and the Canadian NORAD region. He has now eased out of that role and continues his work in the miliary while keeping patient care skills fresh working at Misericordia.
He humbly dismissed congratulations on his award and was quick to point out his mother, Kathryn Hannah, is a recipient of the Order of Canada due to her nursing work advancing electronic health records.
Order of Miliary Merit
Founded on July 1, 1972, the Order of Military Merit recognizes distinctive merit and exceptional service displayed by members of the Canadian Armed Forces, both Regular and Reserve. Many have demonstrated dedication and devotion beyond the call of duty, and the Order honours them for their commitment to Canada. His Majesty King Charles III is the Order’s Sovereign, the governor general is its Chancellor and a Commander, and the chief of the Defence Staff is its Principal Commander.
Officer
The Officer of Military Merit recognizes outstanding meritorious service in duties of responsibility.
