French and Dutch forces in Mali medevac drill
In Mali, medical personnel from the French military’s Operation Barkhane force tested their interoperability with Dutch counterparts from the United Nations Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
In Gao, Mali, medical personnel from the French military’s Operation Barkhane force tested their interoperability with Dutch counterparts from the United Nations Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) by conducting a joint medical evacuation exercise. Barkhane’s lead doctor said: “[The military must] be able to act together as quickly as possible. Procedures sometimes differ, but good communication and these type of exercises in close to real-life conditions allow for improved co-ordination between the various agencies, from the alarm to the evacuation to the wounded being delivered into care.”
Medical teams responded to a mock helicopter crash with seven wounded. French and Dutch firefighters first teamed up to put out a fire and then to rescue the people onboard, and medical personnel from both countries then took over the patients’ treatment and evacuation to Barkhane’s Role 2 hospital in Gao.
Around 3,500 personnel are deployed for Operation Barkhane, which is fighting alongside the Sahel G5 nations (Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso) against armed terrorist groups in the Sahel-Saharan region.