Romania, Republic of

Basic Task of the Medical Service

The Military Medical Service provides medical assistance and preventive medicine and develops medical research programs, with the primary goal of having healthy service personnel that can accomplish operational duties. Also, their families, military retirees and war veterans and their family members and the civilian population can receive healthcare through the military medical facilities at all levels:

• primary medical assistance;
• pecialty ambulatory medical assistance;
• dental medical assistance;
• hospital care;
• rehabilitation medicine;
• military medical expertise is an integrated and multidisciplinary activity consisting of a selection of candidates for the military carrier and health status evaluation of MoND personnel.
  
  

Structure

The Medical Directorate is the central specialized structure that elaborates the unitary concept for organizing, endowing and functioning of the medical and veterinary assistance in the Armed Forces, in peacetime, in crisis and wartime, continuously improving and modernizing the military medical system.

Cooperation is a core value and the Medical Directorate provides support for military commanding structures, and maintains continuous communication with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Affairs, national healthcare insurance institutions and other healthcare structures.

The primary medical assistance is provided by physicians serving in primary medical assistance structures at the unit level as general practitioners.

The specialty ambulatory medical assistance is available through ambulatory facilities, such as the the Medical Centre of Ambulatory Diagnostic and Treatment “Acad. Dr. Stefan Milcu” Bucharest and the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space Medicine “Gen. Dr. Av. Victor Anastasiu” Bucharest.

The basic mission of the Medical Centre of Ambulatory Diagnostic and Treatment “Acad. Dr. Stefan Milcu”  is to ensure the annual medical check-up of military and civilian personnel from the military units and formations, the medical check-up of personnel from the Ministry of National Defence upon departure/arrival to/from foreign missions, the medical check-up of people who opt for employment in the Ministry of National Defence, as well as primary and specialty medical assistance for military and civilian personnel from the Ministry of National Defence and their family members, for military retirees and war veterans and their family members, also for other people insured in the national health insurance system.

The National Institute of Aeronautics and Space Medicine “Gen. Dr. Av. Victor Anastasiu” (NIASM) was founded in 1920. The founder, whose name the institute proudly carries, was General Doctor Aviator Victor Anastasiu. He was the first pilot in Europe to be also a medical doctor. His research on pilot population was recognized all over Europe. With such a deep and honoring tradition, NIASM, no matter his organization form strived for excellence. In 1978, the institute selected the Romanian cosmonauts for InterCosmos missions, and one of them, Dumitru Prunariu, made the flight in outer space in 1981.
The NIASM hosted the 59th International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine in 2011.

The main missions of the institute are:

• organizes the medical and psychological selection and expertise for both military and civilian aeronautical personnel;
• organizes training in aerospace physiology; 
• organizes the medical examination in the staff who participate in special missions in the country and abroad;
• participates with specialists in the investigation of the military and civil aeronautical events;
• organizes the medical training in the aeronautical and space medicine with Romanian Ministry of Health;
• organizes the scientific research programs in aeronautical and space medicine;
• represents Romania in the international relations concerning the aeronautical and space medicine;
• publishes the medicine books and the Journal of Aeronautical Medicine and Psychology;
• assures the primary and specialty healthcare. 

In order to be fit for the missions, NIASM strives to maintain and procure special and top range medical equipment, pictures of several being attached.

Hospital care is provided by 11 emergency military hospitals distributed all over the country. The most important military hospital is the Central Military Emergency University Hospital "Dr. Carol Davila" Bucharest.

Medical recovery assistance aims to reinforce the state of health of the military and civilian personnel provided by the MoND specialized medical unit, namely the Balneophysiotherapy and Medical Recovery Sanatorium "Dr. Dimitrie Cantemir" Baltatesti.

Provision of pharmaceutical supply and medical logistic support for medical operational structures with medicines, sanitary-pharmaceutical materials and medical devices is made by the Medical Directorate through specialized structures (Zonal Centers for Medical Logistics and Sanitary Deposits) according to the national laws, and entirely financed by the state budget.

The Centre for Preventive Medicine, a health unit subordinated to the Medical Directorate, provides public health and veterinary assistance in the Ministry of National Defence. The main objective is the implementation of specific national legislation, in order to maintain the health and operational capacity of the Army personnel, through the following activities:

• public health inspection;
• veterinary inspection;
• surveillance, prevention and control of communicable diseases and healthcare-associated infections;
• vaccination and specific chemoprophylaxis for the deployable personnel;
• surveillance, prevention and control, within Ministry of National Defense of occupational diseases, including research, declaration, recording and reporting of occupational diseases;
• assessment and correction of the negative influence of environmental and occupational factors on the health status of the personnel.

The mission of the ”Col. Prof. Dr. Nicolae Nestorescu” Blood Transfusion Centre of Ministry of National Defence is to provide a safe, sufficient and accessible blood supply to meet the needs of military personnel, veterans and civilians in time of peace, crisis and conflict. This centre is dedicated to providing a safe and efficient environment for blood collection, testing, processing and distribution.
Laboratories are equipped with the latest technology for blood testing. The Blood Transfusion Center is the only one in the country using the fully automated NAT machine Cobas 6800. The blood is tested for in order to detect HBV, HCV, HIV & WNV.
The processing facility is operated by proficient technicians and furnished with state-of-the-art technology for blood processing. Temperature in the storage compartment is rigorously regulated using an automatic monitoring device. The Distribution Area ensures a timely response to critical patient requirements by efficiently managing the allocation of blood components to hospitals. Beyond routine blood collection and distribution, ”Col. Prof. Dr. Nicolae Nestorescu” Blood Transfusion Centre carries out various special activities such as: Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response (supplying blood during natural disasters, pandemics, or mass casualties). They intend to implement Walking Blood Bank Programs. A modern  mobile laboratory is used for organizing mobile blood collections.

The National Institute of Medical-Military Research and Development “Cantacuzino” Bucharest develops activities related to public health assistance at the national level, such as communicable diseases early warning and investigation of infectious diseases outbreaks (e.g. food and water borne diseases, hospital acquired infections, antimicrobial resistant community/hospital infections outbreaks etc., laboratory surveillance of vaccine preventable diseases, sexually and blood transmitted diseases etc.), providing serological and/or molecular data for integrated public health action (introducing new vaccines, new surveillance programs or methods, etc.), developing molecular methods, such as PCR, Real Time PCR, PFGE, sequencing etc. for the diagnostic and surveillance of communicable diseases, scientific research aiming at increasing the laboratory capacity and training of microbiology and immunology specialists, as well as developing medical countermeasures against CBRN threats.

The Institute for Military Medicine is the military institution specialized in training military medical students for becoming medical doctors - officers in the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Justice. Training for health care professionals at university and post-university level is provided through partnerships with civilian medical universities in Bucharest, Târgu-Mureș and Oradea. Starting with 2025 academic year, there will be other partnerships with medical universities from Craiova, Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Timișoara.

The Medical-Military Training Centre Sebeș is a non-university initial and continuous professional training institution, subordinated to the Medical Directorate of the Ministry of National Defence, which provides:

• a initial specialization in the medical-military service and preparation for the first position of non-commissioned officers;
• continuous professional training through career and improvement/specialization courses for non-commissioned officers and professional soldiers in the military/medical service, the military health specialty;
• training of military reservists in the armed forces / medical service, the military health specialty;
• organizing and conducting general and/or specialized military training modules for personnel without initial medical training;
• organizing and conducting other professional training programs, according to the medical-military training needs of the Ministry of National Defence.

FIELD DEPLOYMENTS
Operational medical assistance represents all the medical assistance activities, soldiers’ medical evacuation and medical logistic support, according to the operational needs, during force generation, deployment and regeneration.
Medical Directorate is also coordinating the participation of medical personnel from Ministry of National Defense in national and multinational medical exercises, such as:

• Participation in  TTX Casualty Move 23 (CAMO 23), organized by the Multinational Medical Coordination Centre / European Medical Command (MMCC/EMC), in cooperation with the Estonian Armed Forces, with the aim of training military medical personnel from NATO member states on the management of the flow of injured patients resulting from a major NATO Article 5 joint military operation.

The exercise realistically simulated the challenges involved in the management of a large number of patients, interoperability, the allocation of resources in the field of medical logistics and the cooperation with civil governmental or non-governmental organizations from NATO member states, in a multinational, cross-border environment, in the scenario of an armed conflict on the territory of Europe. During the discussions, the importance of training in the field of managing mass casualty situations and the establishment of functional cooperation links in the civil-military relationship during major NATO Article 5 military actions on the territory of Europe were emphasized.

• Participation of the personnel from two military hospitals (Clinical Emergency Military Hospital Brașov and Clinical Emergency Military Hospital Sibiu) which jointly staffed a ROL2B type formation, in a multinational inter-institutional exercise SARMIS-OLT 24, under the operational command of the serviced structure Task Force Mountain, made up of personnel from 2 VM brigades, together with detachments from Belgium, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey and Great Britain. A total of 27 soldiers, medical officers with various medico-surgical specialties, pharmacists, nurses, staff and medical logistics participated, who during the exercise included a ROL 2B formation, under the operational command of TF MTN.

Military Emergency Hospital Constanța participated with medical staff in the multinational exercise "Sea Shield 24", in which 12 allied and partner states took part, such as Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Great Britain, Moldova, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Turkey and the United States of America. Also, the other categories of forces from the Romanian Army, as well as structures from the national security and safety system (Emergency Situations Inspectorate), participated in this exercise, where a chemical weapons attack was simulated on board of some military ships at sea, belonging to the Romanian Naval Forces. The casualties on board the military ships were the subject of a triage, they were given first aid measures by the medical staff of the Emergency Military Hospital Constanta, after which they were transported by ambulance to the Military Emergency Hospital and to Constanța County Hospital.

• The Emergency Clinical Military Hospital Cluj-Napoca provided real-life support for emergencies during the international military exercise SWIFT RESPONSE 24.
  Also, the same medical military unit organised a TTX on medical Support in an urban conflict in cooperation with the Euroatlantic Resilience Center (EARC) and 4th Infantry Division between 5 and 6 November 2024. Lessons learned were of great value.
  Moreover, every year they generate the personnel for FMT ROL 2B in support of a Mechanized Brigade in multinational exercise WIND SPRING.

Vigorous Warrior 24 and Clean Care 24 
The Vigorous Warrior 2024 and Clean Care 2024 multinational medical exercises were conducted from April 28 to May 9, 2024, at the Hungarian Defence Forces BAKONY Combat Training Centre in Hungary. The primary objective of these exercises was to provide joint training and assess the interoperability and manoeuvrability of medical support units in an Article 5 operation, including the capability to respond to potential Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents within a civil-military context. Approximately 1600 military personnel and civilians from 37 NATO and partner nations participated. These exercises involved medical services and civil protection agencies such as firefighters, police, ambulance services, and NGOs. Medical Directorate of Romanian MoND contributed with two mobile/deployable capabilities: a BioLab for detecting chemical and biological agents, and a BloodBank, and the key objectives were:

• Enhancing the capabilities of BioLab and Mobile BloodBank units, aligning them with NATO standards. 

• Facilitating knowledge exchange and standardising operational procedures among participating nations. 

• Training medical personnel in a multinational environment, emphasising mobility and adaptability. 

• Increasing the visibility of Romania’s specialised medical contributions within NATO. 

• Demonstrating the readiness to respond to CBRN incidents in a collective defence scenario.

(status: 22nd April 2025)