Matt O’Shea’s experience as a military medic inspired him to open a holistic and integrated practice for veterans and first responders.
By Ara Jansen
As a young person Matt O’Shea knew he wanted to be more involved in serving the community than the average person.
Migrating to Perth from the UK when he was 10, Matt got to the end of Year 12 and didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. Most of his uncles had served in the army and his grandparents had served in the navy in World War II.
“I looked up to them and their stories and the things they had done,” says Matt. “At the same time, as a teen, I was rebelling and didn’t sit any of my final exams, which my parents weren’t happy about. I decided the men in my family had turned out alright, so I decided to join the military and see what it had to offer.”
Matt spent 30 years in the Australian Defence Forces working here and overseas. He started with basic training and became a junior medic at 18, alongside training in specialist skills such as underwater medicine, army-qualified diving, weapons training, counter terrorism and added training for the Sydney Olympics, insertion, parachuting and trained with the US Marines.
During his career Matt has worn different hats and parlayed his skills and training in numerous ways. He served in Special Air Services Regiment (SASR) and Special Operations Headquarters (SOHQ) and the 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR), a mechanised infantry battalion with a history of serving in various overseas deployments.
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Matt has served on various operations and deployments domestically and in the Middle East and Asia, including East Timor and Afghanistan. While deployed his primary function was to provide medical care to personnel.
He has also been an instructor at the Army School of Health in Victoria and worked in Canberra as a Reservist coordinating medics going to Afghanistan.
When Matt was stationed in Afghanistan in 2006, he had a bad fall and hurt his back.
“I was lying on the ground thinking ‘I need to get another job’. We were doing a night move, I was holding onto the back of a truck, I lost my grip and fell off. The next day I could hardly move.
“That incident was the catalyst to think ‘what am I doing here?’ Even while we were on base myself and the Australian doctor would help out with the nearby US surgical team.
“The Taliban would engage at dark and all the casualties would arrive a little later, so we’d go and backfill in the theatre or emergency theatre. I would regularly scrub in on a surgery and sometimes we’d be there all night.
“I was an extra set of hands for the surgeons. It was intense, we did some crazy things and I learnt a lot.”
After his time in Afghanistan, Matt retuned to Perth, took long service leave and, wanting to do something different, completed a graduate certificate in business at Curtin.
“I was probably still in the prime of my career and still very deployable. I probably could have continued for another five to 10 years, but I decided not to.”
Instead, he transferred to become a Reservist and spent some time working in mining and gas as a medic in the State’s north-west and later started a registered training organisation which revolved around first responder care before getting to hospital.
He worked for CareFlight, an aeromedical charity and is currently manager of emergency strategy at St John WA. He’s on the board of Richmind WA and was a volunteer member of the SAS Association Advocacy and Welfare Team.
Now a Major in the Reserves, Matt is Army Reserve Company Commander of 7 Health Support Company based in Perth. The company is made up of mostly medical people whose day jobs are in places like GP surgeries, hospital emergency departments or the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and some with army training.
Married with two boys and living in Perth, in 2015 Matt found himself in the middle of a mental health crisis. What was challenging him were the incidents he’d responded to overseas that involved children.
While he “did a lot of work on blokes” in the field, it was the memories of children and non-combatants that followed him home.
“It didn’t cause me an issue until I had my own kids, and I started rerunning all the medical incidents involving kids whilst in country. I was getting really worked up around a couple of things and blaming myself. I started drinking a lot.
“I decided I needed to sort it out. I’d had three knee surgeries and my back is still not great. I knew I needed to get to the gym, see my GP, a psychologist and a physio. I hadn’t been paying enough attention to my own health.
“I also wanted to put some time in and finish my MBA in business administration.”
He also did a PTSD course, which he credits as being one of the best things he has ever done.
“It helped me clear up so many things in my head. I felt completely reset. I was definitely mentally heading in the wrong direction,” he says.
“Most of the issues were related to my time overseas, and that affected everything. It affects family and work. Realising it was a problem and then taking action was crucial.”
On his healing journey, having to see different people in different practices, make separate appointments and travel to them all, gave Matt an idea. What if he could put these services for veterans, first responders and those currently serving all in one place?
“What if you could see an advocate and get all the paperwork done and your team can collaborate around your care? What if you could get the doctor and the psychologist in the same room, at the same time, to agree on care?”
That’s exactly what Matt has done as owner and volunteer veteran care coordinator of the recently opened West Coast Health Alliance in Joondalup.
Instead of clients having to go to several different places to access different services, Matt wanted a place where someone could see a psychologist, a GP, pharmacist, exercise physiologist, physio and DVA advocate under one roof.
This allied health model also allows staff to work together to deliver comprehensive, integrated and holistic care for patients – veterans and their families.
“A lot of work has gone into the layout of the space and the kind of staff we have. All of the staff have worked as first responders or in the military and know what kind of issues are common to both groups. They get it, they are well-informed – and they may well have been there themselves.”
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The clinic’s Enhanced Veteran Allied Care (EVAC) Program has been designed by veteran clinicians for veterans and comprises of collaborative care, personalised wellness plans and opportunities for community and connection to “build a healthier, brighter future – one that honours your past and strengthens your future”.
Matt’s plan is to have three clinics like Joondalup over the next few years.
They’ve already started working on clinics in Ellenbrook and Rockingham. Subtle touches include bigger consulting rooms for those who might be triggered by small spaces and more space between equipment in the gym.
You’ll also find a number of allied health and helpful groups located there – Soldiers & Sirens and Buddy Up Australia provide mental health and mindfulness programs and there’s an RSL advisory team.
One of the challenges they have come up against is finding GPs who want to deal with the Department of Veterans Affairs paperwork. Matt is keen to meet and collaborate with those who do.
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