Royal Air Force medics have tested vital medical equipment to the limit in the freezing arctic conditions of Norway.
Exercise Arctic Phoenix has seen RAF aeromedical evacuation specialists deploy to Bardufoss Air Station in the north of Norway to assess their equipment on the ground and in the air on-board an Atlas A400M tactical transport aircraft.
“This exercise has been vital to understanding our medical equipment’s capabilities in the extremes of the cold weather environment, acting as a stepping stone to allowing us to operate in similar conditions in the future.”
Flight Lieutenant Barrett
Aeromedical Evacuation Team Lead
More than 20 individual pieces of medical equipment, including patient monitoring and testing devices, blood storage containers and communications systems, have been pushed to their limits to understand how the arctic conditions could impact medical operations.
The exercise involves specialists from across the RAF – communications, security, engineering, logistics and aircrew. Typhoon fighter jets are operating with Norwegian F35As further south in Ørland, while the ground forces test equipment, procedures and tactics in the bitterly cold north.
The medical element of the exercise included specialists from the RAF’s Critical Care Air Support Team and Medical Emergency Response Team, responsible for treating and evacuating wounded on military operations. They were supported by technicians who are responsible for maintenance of the complex equipment.
