The Minister of Defence Visits the Field Hospital

 

The minister listens to explanations on the visit (Photo:Ángel Manrique/Army Communication Department)

 

General Aparicio at the field hospital presentation (Photo:Ángel Manrique/Army Communication Department)

 

The field hospital has 78 hospitalisation beds (Photo:Ángel Manrique/Army Communication Department)

The minister of Defence, Mr. Pedro Morenés, has indicated today that the Field Hospital –the largest Army medical formation- may constitute part of the proposal for knowledge and material asset contribution made by Spain to the European Union or the Atlantic Alliance. 
 

The minister of Defence made these statements during his visit today to the Field Hospital, which is now deployed on Base ‘General Cavalcanti’, situated in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid).
 

In his opinion, within the present context, specialisation in certain aspects is important; in the case of Spain, along with specialisation in the area of the fight against improvised explosive devices, the other field to be taken into account is military medical care.
 

The Field Hospital is ‘an example of how we can contribute to internal needs and international organisations on missions abroad,’ he added.  With its acquisition Spain has achieved leadership capability in military medical care, a filed in which it has great experience.
 

Furthermore, military medical care undertakes ‘essential tasks for military operations’ he underlined: hence his interest in attending ‘in a paramount and priority manner’ to the question of staffing medical and nursing personnel, in order to seek solutions to the shortage of military doctors. 
 

During the tour inside the Field Hospital, the minister visited the triage room, telemedicine, the Intensive Care Unit, the operating theatres and the hospitalisation area.

.Initial Operating Capacity 

This visit has taken place when the Field Hospital group was absorbed in an exercise, ‘Battle of Toro’, whose main aim was to reach Initial Operating Capability with a view to achieving Final Operational Capability in 2013. 
 

Taking place within that context has been this new deployment of the Field Hospital, which occupies an area of 22,100 square metres with a series of 77 tents, 78 hospital beds and 127 cargo and functional containers.  
 

Precisely one of the strong points of this medical formation is its modular structure, which permits it to adapt to needs at each moment, depending on whether its mission is support to a Force (at division level or strengthened to an army corps), humanitarian relief either during a catastrophe or an emergency arising within Spain.  In the latter case, it contemplates collaboration with national hospitals and civilian emergency services with which the Army has worked on other occasions, the most recent example is that of the earthquake that occurred in Lorca (Murcia).