France supports Vietnam in training battlefield first aid for peacekeeping operations
Hanoi (VNA) - The 2025 Level 1 Combat First Aid Training Course, supported by France, opened at the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations under the Ministry of National Defence in Hanoi on December 1.
The five-day course, the second of its kind, aims to equip personnel preparing for individual deployment to United Nations peacekeeping operations, as well as officers and staff of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations involved in training and medical support, with battlefield first-aid knowledge and skills required by the UN.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Major General Pham Manh Thang, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, expressed his gratitude to the French Defence Attaché Office in Vietnam and the team of French experts for facilitating the organisation of this important training course. He also showed his hope that France will continue to cooperate with and support Vietnam’s forces participating in UN peacekeeping operations in the coming time.
Thang affirmed his belief that, with the enthusiastic support, professionalism, expertise, and experience of the French experts, Vietnamese trainees will acquire and accumulate the necessary battlefield first-aid knowledge, skills, and experience to effectively fulfil the tasks assigned by the Ministry of National Defence and the UN when deployed to missions.
Emphasising the crucial role of battlefield first-aid training, particularly in ensuring safety and operational effectiveness in increasingly complex, high-risk mission environments, Colonel Anne Brun, French Defence Attaché to Vietnam, affirmed that the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans attaches great importance to supporting Vietnam in UN peacekeeping operations as part of strengthening bilateral defence cooperation and demonstrating the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
During the training course, participants will be provided with an overview of battlefield first aid in UN peacekeeping environments, including basic principles of battlefield first aid, evacuating casualties from danger, handling life-threatening injuries, managing airway issues, monitoring respiratory problems, coordinating battlefield first aid, performing frontline first aid and tactical combat casualty care, providing emergency care during tactical evacuation, and practicing scenario-based exercises./.
