As part of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Committee of the Medical Chief of Military Medical Services (COMEDS), the IDF Medical Corps is hosting Surgeon Generals and senior medical officers from NATO member countries from Monday until Friday this week.
The IDF Website reports that COMEDS is chaired by Brig. Gen. Dr. Rob Van Der Meer from the Netherlands. COMEDS promotes international cooperation between NATO member countries and their partners in the fields of military medicine, disaster medicine and humanitarian medicine. This is the first time in which the conference is being held in a non-NATO member country outside Europe.
The conference will include lectures, discussions and a variety of panels. In addition, participants will observe displays of IDF capabilities to offer aid in disaster areas, and a large-scale Home Front Command & Medical Corps exercise at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva to display Israel's capabilities to contend with home front emergencies. The exercise will simulate a non-conventional missile landing in Israel.
The conference will be concluded at a gala event to be held in Tel Aviv. The NATO generals and their spouses, the IDF Chief of Technology and Logistics Branch, Major General Kobi Barak; the IDF Surgeon General, Brigadier General Dr. Yitshak Kreiss, as well as other senior officers, will participate in the event as well.