UPDF Personnel Complete Battlefield Medical Evacuation Course

What the report says

Uganda People’s Defence Forces personnel from Battle Groups 48 and 49, together with staff from the Headquarter Uganda Rapid Deployment Capability (URDC), have completed a Battlefield Medical Evacuation Course at the URDC headquarters, according to Watchdog Uganda. The training focused on skills needed to handle casualties in combat settings and support rapid medical response in the field.

At the closing session, Commander HQ URDC Brigadier General Emmanuel Kazahura said the course was intended to help build a force that is ready for national and continental peace support duties as well as crisis response operations. He said the training was meant to improve care for wounded personnel while also reflecting the tactical realities of combat.

Deputy Chief of Staff Operations Colonel Joseph Okalebo told participants to apply the skills in their operations and pass them on to fellow troops. He described the course as the start of greater responsibility rather than the end of learning. The facilitators said the curriculum included team medic roles, scene management, triage, control of severe bleeding, airway management, adult basic life support, and treatment of heat- and cold-related injuries.

The report did not give the number of participants or say when the course began. More broadly, battlefield evacuation training is a common element of military preparedness because it can reduce deaths and improve survival after injury.