Civil-Military Medical Exercise "PANACEJA 2023" to take place in Riga and its surroundings

On Friday, 2 June, the civil-military medical exercise "PANACEJA 2023" will take place in Riga and its surroundings. The aim of the exercise is to test and improve the readiness of the 1st Riga Brigade of the Home Guard to provide medical support in the event of a military threat independently and in cooperation with the responsible services and medical institutions, thus also contributing to the development of a comprehensive national defence system in Latvia.

The training will involve soldiers and enlisted personnel of the 1st Riga Brigade of the Home Guard, the Emergency Medical Service (EMS), the State Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), Riga East Clinical University Hospital (RAKUS), Riga 2nd Hospital, the State Police (SP), the Riga Municipal Police (RMP) and the Medical Education Technology Centre of Riga Stradins University. 

During the training, soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the 1st Riga Home Guard Brigade will improve their skills in providing extended first aid and emergency medical assistance in crisis conditions, practice evacuation of the conditionally injured from the threatened area, their transfer to NMPD teams for assistance and transfer to medical institutions.

Approximately 200 soldiers and servicemen, medical company sub-units, 16 NMPD brigades, several VUGD brigades, RAKUS Emergency Medicine and Patient Admission Clinic personnel, Riga 2nd Hospital personnel, as well as SA and RPP crews will participate in the exercise "PANACEJA 2023" in the territory of the 1st Riga Brigade of the Home Guard. Helicopters of the Allied Forces will also fly over Riga from Lielvārde Air Base and land at pre-agreed locations to transfer the conditionally injured to the NMPD teams.

The aim of the comprehensive national defence system is to facilitate the establishment of a system of planning, coordination and partnership between public institutions, the private sector, NGOs and citizens for the activities of national importance. The practical objective of a comprehensive national defence system is to define specific tasks and roles for each national institution in the field of national defence.

The Home Guard is the largest unit of the National Armed Forces and the backbone of the country's territorial defence. There are Home Guard units all over Latvia - in Zemgale, Latgale, Vidzeme and Kurzeme. Around 10 000 selfless Latvian citizens have already acquired and continue to develop in their free time the skills and abilities necessary for the defence of our country.

To join the Home Guard, candidates should contact their nearest Home Guard unit by calling 1811, sending an e-mail to esizemessargs@mil.lv or personally visiting the unit nearest to their place of training or residence. Find out more on the website or www.zs.mil.lv .