Wounded who are picked up with helicopters from the battlefield, stretchers in aircraft. It is something you see especially in feature films. But it can just become a reality. For example, if an armed conflict breaks out between NATO and Russia, the Royal Netherlands Air Force in Gilze-Rijen plays a key role in the transport of injured. A special unit is now practicing with large numbers of wounded.
Graf of aircraft engines on this Thursday morning. It is slightly different than the normal helicopter sound on this helicopter base. A Hercules transport plane rolls off the track from a taxi job. With for attentive spotters on the tail, indeed: the blue -yellow Swedish flag.
“There are many things on board. Stretchers, medical equipment and medication. And twelve patients,” says Linda Boogaard. On her kite suit is ‘Flight Surgeon’ and ‘Aeromedevac’. She is a doctor and commander of operational health care. Just OGZ.
That is part of the Royal Netherlands Air Force and has been around for almost ten years. Recently it is part of the Defense Helicopter Commando at Gilze Rijen Air Base. The OGZ is charged with injuries and transport 24 hours a day. The medical unit also has a small department at Eindhoven Air Base.
Nausea patient
The patients in the Swedish Hercules are not really injured. They pretend. Along the way, one of them, for example, gets an epileptic attack. Lieutenant-Colonel Boogaard explains that flying military flying is really different from traveling to your holiday address.
“You know, if you start flying, a few things will change. You feel it in your ears. You can get nauseous. For sick or wounded patients that is even more intense. And certainly with military devices, because they sometimes fall and rise faster. That is not always nice for your body,” explains Boogaard.
“We have to give medication so that the patient does not get nauseous so quickly. If a patient has a broken leg and worrying vibrations for more pain, then we give painkillers.” Soldiers in a crisis area wear a shard jacket and helmet. Also on board.
The Swedish Hercules flies with a medical team and patients to a base in Sweden. A large tent has been set there with operating room, intensive care and nursing ward.
Grow
The unit at Gilze-Rijen Air Base is now around 120 men and women, but is growing. There is no shortage of doctors for the time being. “Nurses is a different story, but we are working hard on recruitment and education,” says Boogaard. “I absolutely have the confidence in my staff and we will certainly continue to grow.”
The OGZ never sits still. Sometimes they transfer a sick soldier from, for example, the Baltic states. In mission areas they have their own aid post, a kind of mini-house doctor’s post. Or they provide humanitarian help.
Practicing this with larger numbers of injuries is new. “We prepare for a large -scale conflict with many patients at once,” says Commander Boogaard. A hundred or more patients a day, that is the design of this training.
And they practice that this week with the Americans. Allies since the founding of NATO in 1949. But new is the collaboration with the Swedish armed forces. That country joined NATO a few years ago, together with Finland. The reason was the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Language: English. “My Swedish is not that good,” laughs Boogaard.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force therefore plays an important role. But there is more commitment to large -scale wound transport. Earlier this year it was announced that the Ministry of Defense is arranging train wagons and ships for injuries.
The ‘normal’ hospitals throughout the country are also given a task. Under the guise: it is better to be well prepared.
Helis from rows and red berets together on their way
There are more exercises going on.
On Thursday, one of the biggest exercises of recent years started on Gilze-Rijen. Hundreds of soldiers from the Defense Helicopter Command travel by road to Poland. A hefty exodus with 250 vehicles, including containers, tents, trucks, command costs, tankers, workshops and fire engines.
Next week more soldiers and vehicles will follow. Then seven Apache fight helicopters and eight Chinook transport helicopters fly that way.
In Poland they will train together with 11 Airmobile Brigade (the ‘red berets’).
Together they form the 11 maneuver brigade, a fast reaction force that can be used anywhere in the world. In total, 1600 Dutch soldiers practice.
The crowds were noticeable on Thursday at the gate on the Hultense side. The departure went into groups. With every convoy, traffic was stopped for a moment.
