Romania hosts largest medical exercise in NATO history

Vigorous Warrior 19 (VW19), the largest medical exercise in the history of the North-Atlantic Alliance, takes place until April 15 in Romania.

The exercise is held in several units of the Romanian Armed Forces: Getica Joint National Training Center in Cincu, Brasov county; the 71 Air Base General Emanoil Ionescu in Câmpia Turzii, in Cluj county; in Constanța and at the Black Sea. Part of the exercise is also held in Bucharest.

Vigorous Warrior 19 is co-organized by the NATO Center of Excellence for Military Medicine, the Romanian Armed Forces General Staff and the Romanian Ministry of National Defense Medical Directorate.

The goal of VW19 is the joint training in order to provide multinational medical support within the NATO-led operations. The participants practice procedures to provide continuous medical care, strategic medical evacuation, and increased level of training and response to any chemical, biological, and radiological incidents or improvised device incidents.

Representatives from 38 nations (most of the NATO member states) will take part in the exercise. VW19 will also have a civilian component involving 10 distinct organizations.

In Bucharest, the exercise will be conducted in cooperation with the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), and with the support of Dr. Carol Davila Central Military Emergency Hospital. From the hospital, 70 military doctors and auxiliary staff, 10 ambulances, and one truck with a generator system will participate.

Overall, over 300 rescuer-firemen, doctors, paramedics, nurses and volunteers will be involved in the locations of the exercise, DSU announced.

One scenario practiced in Bucharest entails the evacuation of people blocked under rubble or at high altitude. Another exercise, held at the subway, will test the rescuers’ ability to search and find the victims, evaluate and evacuate them, and provide the emergency medical attention.

The Vigorous Warrior Exercise Series is the only dedicated multinational medical exercise in NATO. It is organized bi-annually by the NATO Center of Excellence for Military Medicine and a voluntary host nation. Its objectives always aim to tackle the most relevant questions of the military-medical realm in a multinational setting and under NATO’s auspices.

(Photo: Armata României Facebook Page)