Speaking at a medical conference in the southern city of Kraków, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said about 800 of the volunteers come from medical professions, while others are civilians willing to assist in the event of a crisis or war.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said the initiative, launched earlier this year, is part of a broader effort to build up Poland’s military medical services, which formally began operating in September.
Participants in the Medical Legion will be able to follow different paths, including training courses, taking a military oath and joining the reserve forces, he said.
Kosiniak-Kamysz added that the programme allows authorities to map volunteers’ skills and deploy them effectively if needed, for example in military hospitals or operating rooms.
He also said more than 100 training events and exercises are planned this year in cooperation with civilian hospitals, underscoring closer ties between military and public healthcare systems.
“We want to have military hospitals in every region,” he said.
The Medical Legion is a voluntary civilian initiative designed to integrate medical expertise with the needs of the Polish armed forces. It operates as a platform to register volunteers, provide training and establish regional readiness centres, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP