In the course of the trainings of the CSTO Collective Forces in the Republic of Kazakhstan, a combined NBC defense unit localized a nidus of infectious contamination

In the course of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Collective Rapid Reaction Forces training “Interaction-2022”, the combined NBC defense unit accomplished the tasks of responding to an outbreak of a particularly dangerous infection. It is a new unit in the collective security system designed to respond to biological threats. The unit is equipped to conduct biological reconnaissance, analyze biological samples, decontaminate personnel and military equipment and disinfect facilities.

  Personnel, military hardware and special equipment from the defense agencies of the CSTO member states participated in the practical activities. The activities also involved employees of the local bodies of sanitary-epidemiological well-being of the population and specialists of the Research Institute of Biological Safety Problems of the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan.
  According to the plan of the training, during a joint operation of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces, a patient with symptoms of bubonic plague was detected in one of the units. Plague is a particularly dangerous infection and highly contagious, so the Commander of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces decided during the training to quarantine this military unit and to activate the CSTO Combined NBC Defense Unit to eliminate an outbreak of a particularly dangerous infection in the contingent.
The infected person was hospitalized as soon as possible, the necessary biological tests were conducted, and a special quarantine regime was imposed in the area.
NBC Defense forces and facilities performed biological reconnaissance of the area and decontamination of the military camp facilities, the surrounding territory, access roads, personnel and military equipment. A military police unit was involved in quarantine measures: organizing access control and cordoning off the territory.
The medical and nursing team, after determining a preliminary diagnosis, placed the patient in a transport infectious disease box, in which he was taken by ambulance to the helipad, and then by helicopter to the mobile field hospital.
Deployed during the training Modular Field Infectious Disease Hospital MPIG-68 is a mobile medical unit of the operational-tactical level, which is equipped with the medical service of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan since 2022. The modular field infectious hospital is designed for simultaneous treatment of 68 infectious patients and is intended for use in the field at ambient temperatures from minus 40 degrees to plus 40 degrees. It is designed for repeated operational use in conditions where qualified medical care for infectious patients is not provided in hospitals.
After the admission of a patient with a particularly dangerous infection, the field hospital was transferred to a strict anti-epidemic regime. Biomaterial sampling and laboratory examination was repeated to establish the etiology of the disease. If necessary, the patient received emergency medical care at all stages of evacuation.
It should be noted that the combined formation of radiation, chemical and biological protection and medical support during the CSTO training was formed and worked out practical tasks for the first time.

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Joint Press Center of the CSTO trainings
“Matybulak” training ground