NATO medical exercise in Romania
Romania is hosting the largest medical exercise in the history of the North-Atlantic Alliance.
Roxana Vasile, 10.04.2019, 13:41
Vigorous
Warrior 19, the largest medical exercise in the history of NATO is underway in
Romania, covering all three levels: ground, air and sea. Some 2,000 soldiers, fire-fighters,
military doctors, paramedics, nurses and civilian volunteers from 40 member and
partners states are simulating interventions in case of a military conflict
affecting urban areas. Colonel Doctor Florin Oancea, the head of the
Medical Operational Support Service has
told us:
This
exercise, held every two years, is the largest medical exercise in the history
of NATO. This year we’ve had the
opportunity to host it and we hope its visibility will be higher and we will be
able to attract more staff to medical operational units.
The
most important stage of the exercise is hosted by the Getica Joint National
Training Centre in Cincu, Brasov county. 14 military facilities have been built
there, from the simplest ones, such as triage and ER, to a modular ROL3
hospital, where complex surgical procedures can be carried out. Colonel Doctor
Daniel Derioiu explains:
We
have operating rooms for general surgery, orthopaedic surgery, trauma surgery,
vascular surgery and thoracic surgery. This is the first ROL3 we’ve built in
this system, with help from our NATO partners, which have contributed with both
medical equipment and staff. Such a hospital can be set up in just two days, in
a situation of crisis.
To
ER doctor Iulia Popa, from the Timisoara Military Hospital, the experience
provided by such an exercise is unique:
The
equipment is just like in a regular hospital. The only difference is that here
things go much faster, because we are supposed to act as if it were a crisis
situation.
Also
participating in the Vigurous Warrior 19 exercise are military helicopters used
to evacuate the wounded. The chief-physician of the 71 Air Base, Lieutenant
Colonel Doctor Marius Buiu gave us more details:
Depending
on the requests coming from the deployed medical structures, patients in
critical condition are evacuated with the help of these helicopters. So, these
are simulations of catastrophic situations, collective accidents, war, etc. We
are all training to be able to cope with things that may occur anytime.
Besides
the one in Cincu, the NATO medical exercise has another two stages, one in the
Romanian Black Sea Port of Constanta, in the south-east, and the other one in
Bucharest. In another development, the capital Bucharest will also host, on
Thursday night, the largest underground intervention simulation in the past 30
years. The location for the drill is the Piata Romana metro station in the centre
of the city.
