Latvian National Guard medics gain crisis experience beyond civilian hospitals

Latvia’s civilian medical system has limited readiness for large-scale crises and combat situations, so doctors are gaining practical experience in the National Guard’s Medical Company, LSM reported.

Samanta Prīdāne, a reanimatologist at Stradiņš Hospital, and Jurģis Strautmanis, a neurologist at the Children’s Hospital, discussed how military training is changing their daily work in the LSMnīca podcast series Formā!.

The Medical Company may appear to be a logical choice for people who want to defend the country but do not see themselves carrying a weapon. However, Strautmanis said it should not be viewed as an easier option.

“We do not want to promote the Medical Company as something easier. It will not be easier, it will be different,” he said. “This is not about signing up for a resort. We are preparing for a situation in which we have to take care of ourselves.”

The most difficult tasks are not always physically demanding. Medical personnel must also be able to protect themselves, learn basic military skills and work in conditions of panic and stress.

“The hardest thing emotionally would be washing injured people and not sleeping,” Strautmanis and Prīdāne said.

Members of the Medical Company must be prepared for more than treating patients. They may also have to arrange electricity, protect themselves from drones and handle other practical tasks.

During an international exercise in Estonia, Latvian National Guard medics had to establish a treatment point in an abandoned concrete building.

“We were mechanics, electricians, plumbers, builders and whatever else was needed. We had no support. Nothing. We did everything with our own hands,” Prīdāne recalled.

The Formā! podcast series is produced by former National Guard members Mārtiņš Vecvanags and Ritvars Vulis, who serve in the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the Land Forces Mechanised Infantry Brigade, in cooperation with the public media portal LSM.lv.