Multinational mass casualty exercise held in Poland
Over 25 countries took part in live mass casualty evacuation training in Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, Poland.
A live mass casualty evacuation training in Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, Poland on 11 June saw over 25 countries send units to take part in the large scale drill. The Polish-led multinational exercise aimed to increase co-operation between medical units in the event of a mass casualty event.
Over 13,000 US troops from the active Army, Army Reserve and National Guard took part in Exercise Anakonda (AN16) alongside troops from 25 different armies, including Polish and Romanian.
Combat medic Sgt 1st Class Michael Wilcox worked alongside Polish soldiers during the operation and found it useful: “When it’s time for us to work together in a real-world crisis, we’ll already be familiarised with each other’s operating procedures.”
Capt. Marcin Sobotka from the 25th Medical Support in the Polish Army stressed that because of the differing medical evacuation procedures of the allied nations involved, ‘we have to test them in real situations and learn to work together’.