The Ministry of National Defense has proposed a NT$1.36 billion plan (US$42 million) to boost the armed forces’ medical capabilities during a conflict.
The military would invest NT$6.9 billion in reserve forces, command and control resilience, training facilities and battlefield medicine to build an asymmetric force ready to defend the nation, the ministry said last week.
The ministry’s budget has been submitted to the Legislative Yuan for approval.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The Medical Affairs Bureau would have a NT$981 million budget for 98 types of trauma care equipment and facilities, including operation rooms with angiography and X-ray machines, ophthalmologic surgical instruments and heart-lung machines, among others, it said.
The improved capabilities would help the military be better prepared for conflicts and unconventional threats, the ministry added.
The Armaments Bureau would receive an NT$200 million budget to equip forward surgical teams to provide frontline units with immediate medical care, it said.
Forward surgical teams would be used to supplement level two theater medical service assets to increase troop survivability as casualty evacuation and in-hospital treatment could be challenging under combat conditions, the ministry said.
The army would be allotted an NT$179 million budget to improve armed forces reserves medical equipment, including blood oxygen monitoring devices, it said.
The plan is a follow-up to a previous effort to enhance the capability of medical service platoons in reserve units, it added.
The improvements are expected to shorten the wait time for treatment and increase casualty survival rates, it said.
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