Arctic Health preparedness
It has been decades ago since the Norwegian Total Defence have conducted a complex exercise in health preparedness for war as the one taking place on 12 March in Ofoten and Tromsø during Cold Response 26.
On 12 March during Cold Response 2026, many parts of Norway´s Total Defence will conduct a major health preparedness exercise in Narvik, Fjelldal (between Harstad and Evenes), Tromsø, and through digital simulation.
War places immense pressure on both civilian and military emergency resources. In the Arctic, this is particularly demanding due to the challenging conditions. The Health preparedness requires coordinated efforts over time, across sectors and national borders. Experiences from the war in Ukraine clearly demonstrate the need for well-prepared health systems.
In the period following the Cold War, when the Norwegian Armed Forces focused on expeditionary operations, several evacuation capabilities were phased out. These will now be rehearsed during Cold Response.
– Through the planning leading up to this exercise, we see the great willingness and capability within the Total Defence to find good solutions, says the Norwegian Surgeon General, Brigadier Petter Iversen.
Health preparedness is an important part of both national and collective security.
Brigadier Petter Iversen, Norwegian Surgeon General and Chair COMEDS.
Locations
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The main activities take place in Narvik, where training focuses on receiving a large number of casualties arriving by train from Finland. The simulated patients will be treated in Narvik before being evacuated further south.
From the train station in Narvik, patients will be evacuated by civilian bus, civilian express boat, civilian- and military ambulances. Many of the injured will be received at the University Hospital of North Norway in Narvik, while others will be sent to dental services and the municipal health care service. -
In Tromsø, the exercise focuses on receiving an express boat carrying wounded personnel from the front line. Most of the patients will be admitted to the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø.
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At Fjelldal, an exercise scenario is conducted in which a bus collides with a tanker truck, causing chemical contamination. The training focuses on triage and on distributing patients between the municipal health services and the specialist health services.
Total defence
Total defence refers to the mutual support and cooperation between the defence sector and civil society in dealing with incidents in peace, crisis and war. It is a framework for using our combined military and civilian resources to safeguard national security.
Total defence is intended to ensure optimal use of the country’s overall resources within prevention, emergency planning, crisis management and consequence management. It is important both for broad societal preparedness and for situations at the high end of the crisis spectrum.
NATO and the Nordic dimension
– The NATO and Nordic perspective is important here, especially in Ofoten, which is a key area for receiving allied forces both to Norway and the rest of the Nordic High North, says Chief of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, Vice Admiral Rune Andersen.
– During this exercise we are able to train the evacuation and treatment chain at the local, regional, national and Nordic levels, he adds.
– We will also link this activity to the Norwegian civil–military participation in the international medical exercise Casualty Move (CAMO), which gives us added value by providing experience in how this should be handled strategically, says Iversen.
Will be noticed locally
– Cold Response will be noticed everywhere the exercise takes place, but on this particular day we want to make the public aware that there will be a lot of vehicles and emergency vehicles in and around Narvik, the Harstad–Evenes area and the city of Tromsø. People may also see individuals who appear to be wounded in war, says Commander of Home Guard District 16, Colonel Bjørnar Eriksen.
Most of the medical preparedness training will take place during daytime.
