Medicine and the military join forces

Answering Modern Threats

The programme's creators have no uncertainty that the changing dynamics of armed conflicts and the expanding number of crisis situations require a fresh model of education. – Both field medicine and rescue consequence strategy require a modern, integrated approach. The answer to these challenges is comprehensive education, which combines operational experience with medical knowledge, preparing future graduates for action in the realities of tactical medicine,” emphasises Dr. Beata Zysiak-Christ, Head of the AWL Combat Field.

The originator and manager of the survey is Prof. Tomasz Jurek from the laboratory of medicine of Fields of Combat and Judicial Ballistics of the UMW and the infirmary Emergency Branch of the University Clinical infirmary in Wrocław. As he emphasizes, the programme's creators have deliberately departed from replicating existing ones Tactical medicine courses.

– We wanted not to repeat the existing solutions, but to make something that filled the gap. This is about rescue measures, and so not just medical ones, taken during disasters and disasters. Our context is much broader, says Prof. Jurek. It indicates that erstwhile medical training in combat fields is mainly targeted at medical personnel.

The fresh direction is to combine different environments. – We want to combine doctors and paramedics, uniforms, crisis management and civilians. We want to force them to cooperate, cooperate and communicate with the team," the head of the university emphasizes. “Every emergency rescue action is simply a chaos to control. A full squad is needed for this – adds Prof. Jurek.

As noted by Paulina Boron-Kacperek, head of the UMW Postgraduate Education Centre, the studies will prepare specialists able to operate under large force of time and in a complex civil-military environment, where resilience and decision-making velocity are crucial.

In the field, not in the lecture room

Universities stress that the survey program, which covers 2 semesters and a full of 265 teaching hours, was designed by a group of prominent specialists, including doctors, military instructors and practitioners from the UN and NATO missions. It is intended to prepare listeners for effective action in highly hard conditions specified as combat zones, mass disasters or terrorist incidents.

Classes will include tactical medicine and Combat rescue, including the handling of massive haemorrhages, the handling of gunshots and detonation injuries, the organisation of medical evacuation and the consequence to mass events. A separate module deals with CBRN threats: chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear.
Parallel participants will undergo training typically military: tactical, shooting, navigational. A large part of the program will be dedicated to drone training (graduate postgraduate will receive a drone licence in category A1/A3).

The teaching facilities for the fresh direction include the laboratory of medicine of the Fields of Combat and the extended Center of Medical Simulation of the UMW. However, as the organizers emphasize, the key exercises under military supervision and field medical instructors will take place in the field and in facilities simulating real-life events.

– We focus on practice, the theoretical part is reduced to the minimum necessary. We will focus on competences, but above all on their verification during the simulation of events with a advanced degree of realism: on the polygon, in abandoned buildings belonging to the university – says Prof. Jurek. “In sterile conditions, learning specified activities as supplying victims in the field of combat makes no sense,” he explains.

The final exam is to be an extended, multi-hour tactical script carried out in the field. – Participants will gotta organize a rescue action from beginning to end, including medical evacuation. We want them to realize tactical techniques and to be able to apply them in practice – says Prof. Jurek.

The scripts will be dynamic, and changing operating conditions, time pressure, limited resources and the request to coordinate many services, are to reflect the realities of modern crises, both war and civil.

Knowledge From Front Line

Importantly, postgraduate students will besides meet with medics operating at the front in Ukraine. Organizers announce classes conducted by practitioners who supply medical assistance on a regular basis in conditions of combat activities. – This will be first-hand knowledge, confronted with our experiences and standards. We want the listeners to see how the explanation functions in real conditions of the battlefield – the head of the survey points out.

The creators of the direction do not hide that they were inspired by both modern armed conflicts and natural disasters. It's not just about the war. all major crisis: flood, disaster, causes chaos, and our task is to teach how to master it – concludes Prof. Jurek.