Marine Rescue Center

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The EGV Berlin , the containers under the crane directly in front of the bridge belong to MERZ
MERZ container

The Marine Operations Rescue Center (MERZ) is a container-supported rescue center of the German Navy , which can be installed on a task force supply (EGV) and ensures the first emergency, including emergency surgical, treatment there (Role2E). The Navy currently has an operational MERZ.

The MERZ consists of 26 20- and 30-foot ISO containers , which are installed on two floors on the upper deck. A ward (24 beds, including four intensive care beds and ten emergency beds), which is an integral part of the EGV, is located under the container structure. Located further towards the stern and separated from the MERZ is the ship's hospital (nine beds), which is also permanently attached to the ship, but which is or can be operated in conjunction with the MERZ. Use of the hospital as an isolation ward is also conceivable. A total of 43 patients can be admitted, with the EGV's helicopter hangar providing additional capacity for up to 100 slightly injured people.

The MERZ heard on the ship to the main section 800 (on-board medical service) and by personnel of the Navy medical corps passed, but the majority is, of up to 58 soldiers strong MERZ personnel (doctors, specialists, medical soldiers) from the central medical service provided. The use of the MERZ is therefore an example of a joint operation.

The MERZ was activated eight times from 2002 to 2009. After the seaquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004 , the EGV Berlin was relocated to the disaster area as part of the "Humanitarian Aid Southeast Asia" ( HumHiSOA ) operation. There the navy and the central medical service were able to demonstrate the function of the MERZ in cooperation with facilities on land (here a rescue center light ): a total of 2311 treatments were carried out on land and at sea, 854 inpatients were admitted and 196 operations were performed. The last activation of the MERZ on the task force supply Berlin took place from April to June 2009 as part of the anti-pirate mission ATALANTA off the coast of Somalia.

In a fire in a warehouse in Bremen on February 22, 2015, the containers of a MERZ were destroyed, the separately stored equipment of the containers remained undamaged. The affected containers were previously used on the Frankfurt am Main . A new MERZ is permanently installed as a replacement and is called an integrated MERZ (iMERZ). It has an infirmary, two operating theaters, an X-ray room, a dental technology department and various laboratories.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Thomas Wiegold: Marine loses half of its floating hospitals. In: eyes straight ahead! (Blog). February 26, 2015, accessed on February 26, 2015 : "In the fire of a warehouse in Bremen on February 22nd, the containers of a marine rescue center (MERZ) were destroyed."
  2. ↑ Task force supplier BERLIN is relocated to the disaster area in Southeast Asia. In: marine.de . Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  3. ↑ Bundeswehr ends mission in Indonesia - German help continues. In: bundeswehr.de . Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  4. ↑ Matthias Faermann: On the way to the iMERZ - emergency hospitals on board . In: Cast off! Issue 6/2020, p. 15