WATCH: British Medics Prepare For Exercise On NATO's Eastern Flank

Image: Fake blood is used to make mock injuries more realistic. 

British military medics have been preparing for a crucial role in a NATO exercise involving 20 nations in Poland this June.

306 Hospital Support Regiment prepared for Exercise Sabre Strike at the Army Services Medical Training Centre near York.

Over the course of the weekend, medics dealt with dozens of mock patients in an exact replica of the facility they will be working in in Poland.

306 was specifically asked to take part in Exercise Sabre Strike, as they offer specialisms which do not otherwise exist in the regular army.

Col Helen Singh, Commanding Officer, 306 Hospital Support Regiment said: "There’s neuro: neurosurgeons, neuro medicine; it’s also got women’s health so there are midwives, there’s obstetrics and gynaecology specialisms. It’s got tropical medicine and it’s also paediatrics and maxillofacial.

"It’s [an] absolutely massive exercise in Eastern Europe and it’s a great opportunity for interoperability, joint-working and learning from each other."

Col Andrew Whitton, Deployed Medical Director, 306 Hospital Support Regiment said: "306 is providing support for the Americans.

"People work in slightly different ways in different organisations so it’s important that we learn the best things that they have."

Aspects of the training can be just as useful to the NHS as the military, with one corporal using knowledge gained in the reserves in her full-time job.

Cpl Laura Still said: “We had a patient a couple of weeks ago that was very very poorly - that was losing a lot of blood.

"The equipment was brought to me, seniors were on hand to come and help, and when it came to it they didn’t know how to use that bit of equipment.

"Without my military training and what I’ve learnt here, going on courses, I wouldn’t have known either."