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Russia could “decide to attack us in three to five years,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says, and Europe needs to be prepared.
In response, NATO countries are finalising plans to dramatically increase defence spending from 2% of GDP to 5%.
Meanwhile, NATO allies are focusing on strengthening their defence through new capability targets, based on the evolving global security concerns and, in particular, the threat from Russia.
NATO’s Griffin Lightning military exercise is one of the most extensive tests of the alliance’s capabilities and readiness for war.
The training includes a wide range of hardware, including tanks, howitzers, attack helicopters, drones, live-fire drills and fully functional field hospitals.
Field hospitals are crucial as the first line of defence, preventing death or major life-changing injuries.
Overall, drones are the dominant weapon in Russia’s war in Ukraine and are responsible for the majority of casualties and injuries.
Armies are now preparing for the widespread integration of drone technology into life-saving situations on the battlefield. Drones will be used to transport blood directly to the injured soldier on the frontline, buying crucial time with blood transfusions until a soldier can receive more comprehensive care.
In Lithuania and across the Baltic states, armies are using former Soviet missile depots as control centres for NATO allies and for storing medical supplies and field and dental hospitals.
Medical staff react to drills and emergency life-saving treatments that are common to battlefield injuries. Field hospitals are there to stabilise patients, with IV access, intubations and CT scanners for head trauma and brain injuries.
Hospital 519 is an American-led facility in the centre of Lithuania with hypothetical patients displaying injuries common to the battlefield, especially the current frontline in Ukraine.
It’s part of the US Swift Response military exercise within NATO, which tests the ability of US battalions and military medical personnel to respond immediately to a potential Russian invasion in the Baltic states or other frontline countries in Europe.
“The injuries we’re seeing in Ukraine are different to the war in Iraq or Afghanistan,” dental officer Major Frederick Dawson told Euronews.
In Ukraine, “soldiers are wearing body armour and helmets so a lot of the injuries are to the extremities and to the face which highlights the need for a dentist on the battlefield,” he explained.
“If a soldier has tooth injuries through trauma or disease, it might affect their ability to wear their helmet and then they can’t fight.”
Crucially, the war in Ukraine is informing how NATO is preparing for battlefield injuries.
“The US army medical leadership and dental corps leadership have been studying the trends in Ukraine very closely to try to see how we can modernise our army medical team to include the dental team to be better prepared for large scale combat operations,” he said.
Meanwhile, US NATO soldiers also say they now conceal the Red Cross medical symbol at military hospitals or medical centres.
“We try not to have our vehicles or tents with the cross. We try to hide that from sight,” Major Hong Duan, a pharmacist with the US military, told Euronews.
“From what I’ve learned, yes, it’s not respected,” he said.
Hospitals and other critical civilian infrastructure have protected status under international humanitarian law. However, according to several military experts, it is largely no longer respected in many current war zones.
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