UNIFIL French peacekeepers with medical capabilities monitor their substitute patient.
Several injured patients, two on stretchers, were rushed to a waiting helicopter. This was part of a real-life scenario and a dramatic air medical evacuation training exercise for UNIFIL peacekeepers stationed in south Lebanon.
The exercise involved medically trained UN Peacekeepers from France and pilots from Russia. They successfully carried out the task of quickly and safely evacuating three injured patients – all peacekeepers playing the role of patients - from the UNIFIL base near Deir Kifa and transporting them to St George’s Hospital in the heart of Beirut.
As a peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL must be in a state of readiness for emergency situations. This particular exercise is unusual as it monitors the mission’s capabilities to evacuate multiple injured people by air to a hospital in the busy capital city. The training is in addition to ongoing, monthly medical evacuation exercises to ensure that UNIFIL peacekeepers with medical and aviation capabilities work together to respond rapidly to any medical emergency.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article: Aoibheann O’Sullivan Video Camera: Mohamad Hamze Video Edit: Aoibheann O’Sullivan, Suzane Badereddine Translation: Ghifar Charafeddine Music: Jon Luc Hefferman - Upbeat Stills: Pascual Gorriz ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------