Overview
- An instruction dated July 18 directs regional health agencies to plan for a possible major military engagement and to make initial staffing and equipment assessments, targeting readiness by March 2026.
- The plan calls for setting up centres médicaux de transit near ports, airports, rail hubs or major roads to triage wounded personnel and organize repatriation to their home nations.
- National capacity planning envisions treating about 100 patients per day for 60 consecutive days, with potential peaks of 250 per day, and anticipates 10,000 to 50,000 wounded over 10 to 180 days.
- The document, signed by Director General of Health Didier Lepelletier, urges large-scale mobilisation and training of health workers on wartime constraints, PTSD care and rehabilitation, and invites clinicians to join the military health service.
- Health Minister Catherine Vautrin characterizes the move as routine crisis anticipation informed by COVID-19 lessons, and officials note coordination with NATO and the EU alongside ongoing evacuation exercises and a broader military medical modernization slated for 2026.