Medical support
EUFOR MEDEVAC credit EUFOR ALTHEA Every attention should be paid to economy, but nothing is so valuable as the life and health of our soldiers. Only a healthy armed force can deliver and sustain its function efficiently and act as a true force multiplier. Operational medical support should not be considered in isolation to the health in homeland and in peace. It is a continuum, from recruitment, through the preparation phase and onto deployment, ensuring physical, psychological and social fitness.
The aim of Health and Medical capacities in military and CSDP operations is to support the mission, through conservation of manpower, preservation of life and health and minimisation of residual physical and mental disabilities. Appropriate medical support makes a major contribution to both force protection and morale through the prevention of disease, rapid evacuation and treatment of the sick, wounded and injured and the return to duty of as many individuals as possible. The promotion and maintenance of health can be described as a chain of care, starting from prevention to care for casualties and rehabilitation should be delivered seamlessly. A gap in any area may threaten the success of the whole chain of medical service.
Lessons learned from military operations had shown how distances, time and continuity are the primary critical factor for medical planning on the deployment of medical facilities, as well as pre-hospital trauma care and casualty transfer represents peculiarities of military medicine.
The CDP indicates that there is a need for timely medical arrangements amongst participating Member States and for greater interoperability of equipment or medical consumables. In the longer-term, the CDP indicates that EU forces will not be able to deploy to different regions of the world without a sound healthcare support organisation in place and that medical practices, treatments and supplies will need to be standardised and harmonised for increased interoperability.
EDA has started-up the analysis of new areas of medical capability development, pooling and sharing opportunities, and dual use capabilities for disaster relief emergencies.
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