In a recent major military training exercise, the IDF set up a major field hospital, according to some, yet another signal of an imminent assault against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The event took place last week, and the field hospital was established in this training event to examine the proficiency of the military to rapidly deploy and create such a reality in the event the injured are unable to be evacuated to hospitals or alternatively, in the event hospitals are buckling under the load of incoming victims. Field hospitals in proximity to the battlefield were established during the Yom Kippur and First Lebanon Wars. According to the daily Haaretz, a training event to measure the IDF’s ability to set up such a medical facility has not been held for over a decade.

The report adds that due to budgetary considerations, field surgical teams established by hospitals were disbanded about nine years ago.

About 18 months ago, the IDF General Staff gave the order to revive the field surgical units and since the order was given, dozens of reservist duty physicians and medics have been mobilized towards complying with this order under the IDF’s Medical Corps’ jurisdiction.

The unit is comprised of two sub-units. Unit one is comprised of the medical personal set to be transported by choppers to location, where the field hospital will be established. The equipment will then be transported in 40 semitrailers. 

Lt.-Colonel Dr. Chami Blumber, who heads the unit, explains the patients would arrive after receiving preliminary life-saving care in the field. The field hospital will then stabilize the victims and prepare him for transport to a hospital for surgical intervention.

During last week’s major training exercise in the Elyakim Base, the teams were drilling in triaging the victims and processing them using the newly-designed IDF software. It is added that most of the equipment used by the unit in the past is no longer relevant, and much of the advanced equipment desired in the facility is still lacking. This includes CT scans, x-ray machines, specialized x-ray units used in operating rooms and triage/treatment centers and laboratories.

Lt.-Colonel Dr. Ofir Maarin, one of the unit leaders and a thoracic surgeon at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center explains it was imperative to run the training event to ascertain when the bottlenecking will occur in case of a true emergency. The training event permitted evaluating the system.

Medical Corps officials add the exercise permitted them to see exactly what equipment is instrumental to run such an operation and what equipment remains on the dream list.

Lt.-Colonel Dr. Gil Hirshorn, who runs the corps’ trauma unit states it will take about two years to bring the units up the operational level desired.

Chief Medical Officer Brigadier-General Dr. Nachman Ash announced that the military’s ability to establish field hospitals is critical for the State of Israel, not just for the IDF. The army must look ahead and preparations must be made for operations far from infrastructure he explained, permitting the military to address emergencies such as an earthquake and strike to the hospital system, or the need to bring humanitarian aid to other nations.

Such was the case with field units established during Operation Cast Lead to assist Gaza residents.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)