Sweden's NATO drills: Enhancing military evacuations and civil defence
In Sweden, military exercises are taking place, with commanders from 16 NATO countries and civilian personnel participating. These exercises aim to improve 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.
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Sweden increases the budget for civil defence
Alexandersson also pointed out 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 CA$780 million) in 2024, 8.5 billion (over CA$1 billion) in 2025, and 10 billion krona (over CA$1.2 billion) in 2026, reaching 15 billion krona (over CA$1.8 billion) by 2028. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) assesses that these amounts will be sufficient to build a system that will enable the country to survive in the early stages of a potential conflict or crisis.
