Army medical service

Military branch badge

The Army Medical Service is one of the armies of the Army of the Bundeswehr and is one of the operational and command support troops . It is the mission of the Army Medical Service to protect, maintain and restore the health of soldiers. The army medical service is only a small part of the Bundeswehr medical service . Most paramedics have been part of the Bundeswehr's Central Medical Service since 2002 .

assignment

Delivery of a wounded person with an ambulance (wheel) to an airborne rescue station as part of the preparation for the army information training exercise at the Munster training center

The order is basically the same as the order of all medical personnel in the Bundeswehr :

The task is to protect , maintain and restore the health of the soldiers .

This applies in particular to missions abroad that threaten health risks to which soldiers in Germany are not exposed. The maxim is to provide soldiers with medical care in the event of illness , an accident or injury while on deployment abroad, which ultimately corresponds to the professional standard in Germany. The following tasks in particular apply to the army medical services:

• Advice, planning, coordination in staffs of the Army: From the brigade upwards, the Army has medical advice elements . The main task of these doctors is to advise the respective troop leaders on all medical questions. At the same time, they act as the interface to the Central Medical Service. When deployed, these doctors take on the role of chief medical officers . In a brigade this is a brigade doctor, in a division the division doctor and in a corps a corps doctor .
• Medical service for the Rapid Forces division : This has an organic (own) medical service, also during exercises and on operations. This is due on the one hand to the special requirements of the special forces , and on the other hand to the ability of the medical staff to be airborne , just like the troops to be supplied, and to be able to perform their task under special combat conditions. A medical center was set up at the location of the Special Forces Command . Some commandos of the Special Forces Command have had particularly extensive medical training .
• Aviation Medical Service in the Army: The Aviation Medical Service of the Rapid Forces Division looks after the flying and air traffic control personnel of the Army. An army airfields that will air accident readiness provided by the Aeromedical Service.
• Teaching and training tasks at the army schools
• Veterinary care of the action and training center for pack animals 230
• Medical service peace supply of foreign agencies

history

The predecessor of the Army medical service was the medical service . The medical service was a branch of the army.

Medical troops of the field army

Medical workers were an organic part of many units of the field army . The headquarters companies of the combat troops , for example, ran their own medical trains . The divisions were placed under medical battalions. The corps level had medical commands with subordinate medical battalions, an ambulance battalion, and ambulance trains (rail) . (cf. division of the field army in Army Structure IV ).

In this way it was possible to ensure that wounded persons who had been first cared for by first aiders and medical troops as part of self-help and comrade help, via the troop formation station of the battalion medical train to a main first aid station , which was set up by the brigade medical company, and that of other main first aid stations of the Divisional Medical Battalion was supported, could be taken for further treatment. From there, the wounded were in rear hospitals (where appropriate facilities of the Territorial Army ) spent .

Medical Corps of the Territorial Army

The territorial army had a non-active reserve hospital organization that could have grown up during the war with reservists and civilian medical personnel. These included medical commands, medical regiments and medical battalions with subordinate hospitals and reserve hospital groups ( cf. division of the territorial army in Army Structure IV ). In the rear area, ambulance companies, ambulance battalions and ambulance companies were planned for the transport of sick and wounded soldiers. Material required in the event of a defense was stored in the main medical and medical depots (see main medical depot Lorch-Rheingau ).

Central medical services of the Bundeswehr

→ Main article : Central medical service of the Bundeswehr

Central medical services were combined in peace as the central medical services of the Bundeswehr . They were indirectly subordinate to the inspector of the sanitary and health services . The central medical services of the German Armed Forces included the armed forces hospitals and the downstream specialist medical centers . Most of the personnel in the Bundeswehr's Central Medical Services were provided by the Army Medical Service. The training was also organized centrally; own medical school of the army troops already in the early years of the Bundeswehr Medical School of the Bundeswehr summarized later from the Medical Academy of the Bundeswehr should develop.

Establishment of the Central Medical Service of the Bundeswehr and the Army Medical Service

In 2002, the Bundeswehr Central Medical Service was reorganized. With regard to the consolidation of the medical forces of all branches of the armed forces under central management, its list followed the concept of the central medical services of the Bundeswehr. The largest part of the army medical service was integrated into the central medical service of the Bundeswehr. The army uniforms serving there are still part of the medical force today. The remnants of the medical troops in the army were referred to in the commanding letter of the inspector of the army of October 17, 2005 as medical service army. Under this new name, they form one of the branches of service of the German army , which, although closely related to the medical corps and to working with this dependent, but should not be confused with it.

See also : History of the Bundeswehr Medical Service

education

Special forces practice emergency care

The staff of the Army Medical Service is largely trained centrally for all branches of the armed forces by the teaching and training facilities of the Central Medical Service of the Bundeswehr . The best-known training facility is the Bundeswehr Medical Academy . The training of medical officer candidates to become medical officers is of particular importance . Medical officers are licensed doctors of medicine , dentists , pharmacists and veterinarians . For the most part, their medical training is coordinated by the Bundeswehr Central Medical Service at civil universities . The General Physician of the Army is responsible for the technical management and further development of the Army Medical Service, who in turn reports to the Medical Service Inspector , who bears overall responsibility for the training, operational readiness and further development of the Medical Service of the Bundeswehr. The Army General Physician is the head of the “Army Medical Service” department in the Army Command and is therefore subordinate to the Army Inspector on the service . The general physician of the army is usually a chief physician .

In order to optimize the rescue chain , all soldiers in the army are trained to be first aiders A in self-help and comrade help under the leadership of the Army Medical Service . Some commandos of the Special Forces Command have particularly extensive medical training. In order to be able to follow the paratroopers and special forces into the area of ​​operations , the paramedics of the two regiments of the paratrooper troops undergo training as parachutists at the airborne and air transport school .

organization

classification

The Army Medical Service is a separate branch of the Army . The medical service is assigned to the operational and command support troops.

Army uniform wearers who do not belong to the army form the medical force . Despite close cooperation and great similarity, the medical troops and the army medical services are to be distinguished from one another. Most of the soldiers in the medical service serve in the Central Medical Service of the Bundeswehr . In addition, equipped Air Force , Navy ( Navy Medical Service ) and Joint Support via medical personnel. All medical personnel in the Bundeswehr are part of the Central Medical Service of the Bundeswehr .

Airborne paramedics , who are the airborne part of the medical service, form a specialized sub-division of the Army Medical Service. The medical officers are divided into veterinarians , human medicine , dentists and pharmacists according to their license to practice medicine . In addition to the licensed soldiers, other medical specialists serve in the Army Medical Service ( paramedics , paramedics , nurses , etc.), who can be distinguished from non-medically trained personnel ( drivers , telecommunications troops , army logistics troops , etc.).

Troops

The only larger troop units in company strength are the two airborne medical companies of the Rapid Forces Division . It is also worth mentioning the medical center Command Special Forces , which, strictly speaking, belongs to the " Special Forces " category :

	designation	place	Association	comment
	9th / Paratrooper Regiment 26	Merzig	Airborne Brigade 1	Airborne medical company
	9th / Paratrooper Regiment 31	Seedorf	Airborne Brigade 1	Airborne medical company
	Medical center special forces command	Calw	Special Forces Command	in the narrower sense, not the army medical service, but the " special forces " category

equipment

Hospitals and ambulances

Armored Bv206S of the Bundeswehr in the medical version

Waffträger Wiesel 2 San

The airborne paramedics have particularly light and air transportable equipment. In the airborne rescue stations, the wounded of the airborne troops in the operational area receive emergency medical care. The airborne paramedics have weapons carriers Wiesel 2 San and Bv206S “Husky” to rescue and transport the wounded .

uniform

The weapon color of the medical forces of the army and the army uniforms of the medical forces wear the beret color beret cobalt blue. The troop badge shows the staff of Aesculapia in a wreath of oak leaves .

In the army, however, only a few soldiers from the Army medical service wear the cobalt blue beret, because all medical personnel in the Rapid Forces Division , especially those of the airborne medical companies , wear the burgundy red beret of the airborne troops with the beret badge of the paratroopers or the special forces command due to their subordination .

See also : "Medical officers and medical officer candidates" in the article Badge of rank of the Bundeswehr

Military symbol

The military symbol , which identifies departments, facilities and vehicles of the medical service, shows four fields (horizontal and vertical lines crossed in the center) and resembles the tactical symbol of all medical forces of the NATO land forces .

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  military symbol

Rank designations

→ Main article : Rank badge of the Bundeswehr

The lowest rank in units of army uniforms in the medical service of the Bundeswehr and therefore also in the army medical service is the medical soldier . He corresponds to the rank of rifleman, radio operator, armored infantryman, etc. ( → see here ) of other branches of service. The other ranks correspond to the general ranks of the Bundeswehr . All medical officers have special ranks .

Team rank
Lower rank		Higher rank
-	Medic	Private
Rank group : Teams-NCOs-NCO-NCOs-Lieutenant-Captains-Staff officers-Generals See also : Ranks  and Rank Badges of the Bundeswehr

literature

• Stefan Wolfgang Schäfer: The medical service of the special forces command . In: Military medicine and military pharmacy . Volume 32 (NF), No. 1 , 2008, ISSN  0043-2148 , p. 36-37 .
• Franz von Rennenkampff: As SanOffzVet in a horse-holding unit of the army (part 1) . In: Military medicine and military pharmacy . tape 2009 , no. 1 . Beta Verlag & Marketinggesellschaft mbH, 2009 ( wehrmed.de [accessed on July 10, 2014]).
• Helmut Walther: The medical service support of the army - the medical service of the army. In: Christian Willy (Ed.): Worldwide in action - the medical service of the Bundeswehr 2010. Mission - Spectrum - Opportunities. Beta, Bonn 2009, 335 pages, ISBN 978-3-927603-91-2 , pp. 56-63.

Web links

• Army medical service. In: deutschesheer.de. Federal Ministry of Defense , the head of the press and information staff ; Online editing in the Press and Information Center of the Army , February 13, 2014, accessed on September 1, 2014 . 
• Hans J. Hilgers: Medical Service Bundeswehr. Federal Ministry of Defense , the head of the press and information staff ; Press and Information Center of the Medical Service , August 29, 2014, accessed on September 1, 2014 (Not specifically for the Army Medical Service, but website of the Bundeswehr Medical Service). 
• General doctor of the army. In: sanitaetsdienst-bundeswehr.de. Federal Ministry of Defense , the head of the press and information staff ; Medical Service Press and Information Center, August 21, 2014, accessed on September 1, 2014 (CV of the General Doctor of the Army). 
• Quick rescuers. In: y-punkt.de. Bundeswehr Academy for Information and Communication ; Editor of the Bundeswehr / Y-Redaktion , September 19, 2013, accessed on September 2, 2014 ( Y-Magazin 09/2013). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} O. W. Dragoons: The Bundeswehr 1989. Heeresamt. I. Corps. II Corps. III. Corps . tape 2 .1: Army , 1989. OW Dragoons: The Bundeswehr 1989. Territorial Command Schleswig-Holstein. Territorial Command North. Territorial Command South . tape
    2 .2: Heer , 1989.
2. ^ The Bundeswehr 1989. Organization and equipment of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany at the end of the Cold War. Part 1: The Federal Minister of Defense, Administration of Justice, Military Pastoral Care, Armed Forces. (PDF) OW Dragoon, February 2012, accessed on September 1, 2014 (Appendix: NATO, list of sources). 
3. ↑ ^{a b} The equivalent, higher and lower ranks are given in accordance with ZDv 14/5 B 185, cf. The Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): ZDv 14/5. Soldiers Act . DSK AV110100174, change status July 17, 2008. Bonn August 21, 1978, rank designations in the Bundeswehr, p. B 185 (Not to be confused with the Law on the Legal Status of Soldiers (Soldiers Act) . The order of the ranks shown in the info box does not necessarily correspond to one of the regular rank sequences provided for in the Soldiers' Career Ordinance , nor does it necessarily correspond to the rank hierarchy described in the Superiors Ordinance a managerial relationship ).