NATO drills in Sweden focus on medical evacuations from war zones
12 September 2024 16:54
In Sweden, military exercises are taking place with the participation of commanders from 16 NATO countries and civilian personnel. These exercises aim to improve the procedures for evacuating wounded soldiers from Finland and the Baltic states. The Swedish Health and Social Care Board reported this information, emphasizing that this is the first such extensive simulation since Sweden joined NATO at the beginning of March this year.
As part of the training scenario, fictional patients are to be transported to Swedish hospitals, where they will receive necessary medical care, and then be evacuated back to their home countries or war zones. The entire operation is to be carried out using international resources located in Sweden.
Tahy Alexandersson, responsible for readiness within the Health and Social Care Board, reminded that Sweden has experience in organising transport and healthcare for many patients from the Cold War period, including using specially adapted hospital trains.
"Now we are learning from Ukraine how to use buses," the expert pointed out new approaches to medical logistics.
Sweden increases the budget for civil defence
Alexandersson also highlighted the challenges associated with the differences between civilian and military healthcare systems, which include not only different nomenclature but also medical documentation. In Sweden, healthcare is the responsibility of individual regions, which have an obligation to cooperate in extraordinary situations.
Meanwhile, the Swedish government announced a significant increase in the budget for civil defence. The report indicates that the amount is to be increased to 6.5 billion krona (approximately £500 million) in 2024, 8.5 billion (over £650 million) in 2025, and 10 billion krona (over £750 million) in 2026, reaching 15 billion krona (over £1.1 billion) by 2028. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) assesses that these sums will be sufficient to build a system enabling the country to survive in the early stages of a potential conflict or crisis.
