The exercise CAMO24, led by the Swedish Armed Forces, took place at the Command Regiment in Enköping and involved more than 150 people from 16 countries, including representatives from NATO's medical coordination center MMCC-E and the EU.
– CAMO24 aims to practice and improve NATO's new Patient flow management guideline, civil-military collaboration, and international operability, says Andreas Nederberg, Lieutenant Colonel at the Defense Medical Center and Deputy Exercise Leader, to Defense Sector News.
– The resilience of Swedish society is part of NATO's collective deterrence and defense. Therefore, it is gratifying to see that we are now exercising with our allies while also practicing at the national level. The two exercises in handling mass casualty incidents and patient flows highlighted the importance of a strong total defense with close civil and military cooperation. The exercises also underscored the strength of good cooperation between the EU and NATO, says Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M), Minister for Civil Defense, in the Ministry of Defense's press release.
The minister visited the exercise along with, among others, Minister of Health Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD).
– The exercises have already provided us with valuable insights into the government's work to strengthen the preparedness of health and medical care. It is clear to me as the responsible minister that national governance needs to be strengthened to provide better conditions for health and medical care in times of crisis and war, she says.
The parallel exercise, conducted in the same facilities, National Seminar Exercise 2024 (NSÖ 24), was organized by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency together with the National Board of Health and Welfare and the Swedish Armed Forces. A total of 55 people participated in NSÖ 24.
The focus was on strengthening the Swedish total defense and adapting the civil preparedness system to NATO. The experiences from the exercise will contribute to the development of the total defense's capacity to manage patient flows during wartime.
– That we are now exercising the military and civilian healthcare systems together is valuable both for us as a country and for future planning within NATO, says Taha Alexandersson, Head of Preparedness at the National Board of Health and Welfare, in the agency's press release.
– NSÖ 24 was very educational, as we could delve deeper and also include the regional level of authorities. Since there is no overarching civil executor of healthcare, it is extremely important that we can already involve the regions in the work towards NATO adaptation, concludes Andreas Nederberg.