In Estonia, NATO forces practice war medicine near the border with Russia

While the Russian threat is more present than ever in recent months, Estonia, which hosts around 1,400 soldiers of the allied forces on its territory, regularly organizes exercises with its partners.

“Never alone again“: 20 years ago to the day, Estonia, as well as the two other Baltic countries, Latvia, Lithuania, but also Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined NATO. Their objective: protect themselves from the powerful Russian neighbor. Two decades later, the war in Ukraine is in full swing, the threat could not be more present.

In Estonia, which hosts around 1,400 soldiers of the allied forces on its territory, the defense forces regularly hold exercises with their partners, such as in the last days of March 2024, near Tartu, the country’s 2nd city. The “Sparrow Strike” exercise is taking place on a former Soviet Air Force site, 55 kilometers from the border with Russia.

Rescuing the wounded on the battlefield

Among the 300 participants, Estonians of course, but also Lithuanians, British and Americans. Objective: take care of the wounded together, from the battlefield to the field hospital. “The scenarios are based on different injuries that can take place on the battlefield. For example, gunshot wounds, shrapnel wounds or explosions“, specifies Lieutenant Valter Voomets, from the center for war medicine at the Estonian Military Academy.

Training conditions as close as possible to reality: Estonian veterans, who have sometimes lost a limb in combat, as in Iraq or Afghanistan, play the victims… And we must intervene as quickly as possible. “We have paramedical teams of conscripts, we have reservist nurses and doctors, we have medical teams from the Defense League, who are civilians, as well as our NATO partnersdetails Valter Voomets.

“It’s a very good opportunity to all work together, to get acquainted, because in the event of combat operations, we would all be on each other’s side. The more we understand each other’s procedures, the better off the injured are. taken care of.”

Lieutenant Valter Voomets

at franceinfo

This is also what Captain Marie, of the French Lynx mission, based in Estonia, confirms. Between the different partner countries, the protocols for treating the injured are not always the same. “We check the same vital functions, but sometimes it is not in quite the same order. So we learn new ways of functioning and we put that into practice in these exercises“, specifies the French military.

Exercises which therefore take place on the eastern flank of NATO… Quite a symbol, in this Estonia which is very proud to celebrate its 20 years within the organization. But the Estonian defense forces remind us: it is not just about protecting ourselves from the powerful neighbor, Russia. Their soldiers intervene under the aegis of NATO wherever necessary.