Sanitary Training Ground

Sanitary Training Ground, a plot of land (territory) occupied by field military medical installations, intended to serve as a place for practical training of medical and sanitary personnel of the army in methods of work in field combat conditions. For a sanitary training ground, a location should be chosen that is diverse in its terrain, preferably on the shore of a natural body of water with flowing water, and partially covered with forest and brush. Depending on the nature of the terrain, the sanitary training ground is divided into sections designated for military-sanitary exercises of hygienic (sanitary-prophylactic) and sanitary-tactical order. To acquire skills in sanitary reconnaissance of water sources, various types and kinds of wells are dug on the sanitary training ground for practice in determining water quality, their yield, and capacity of water-lifting structures. Here, water purification is carried out by mechanical (field filters) and chemical (by chlorination) methods. A separate area is allocated for digging various types of field trenches and their equipment. For the destruction of dry refuse, field incinerators (destructors) are set up on the sanitary training ground. Part of the sanitary training ground is equipped with temporary dwellings (dugouts) and shelters equipped against chemical warfare; here, simplest hygienic examinations of air, humidity, etc. are carried out by field methods, and skills are acquired in calculating cubic capacity, area, duration of stay in conditions of room sealing, etc. Among other hygienic devices, it is desirable to have on the sanitary training ground field installations for preparing food (temporary hearths), for washing (improvised washstands), field baths and showers. With the latter, simplest disinfection chambers are equipped in case of failure or absence of mobile installations of this kind. Special attention should be paid on the sanitary training ground to the issue of wastewater disposal. To acquire skills in providing first aid in modern combat, one or more sections of the sanitary training ground are equipped with combat positions (fire points), on which the distribution of fire means of both one's own side and the imaginary enemy is marked. At the same time, it is advisable to set up observation points on the enemy side, from which control is maintained over the work of field medics in terms of their ability to camouflage themselves and adapt to the terrain. In the rear (behind) the combat positions, areas are allocated for setting up sanitary tents and hospital tents for practice in their camouflage, heating, and additional equipment. The presence of a shore of a natural body of water allows for practice in selecting and distributing places for drawing drinking water, for swimming, etc., as well as for training in rescuing drowning people (in summer) and those who have fallen through the ice (in winter).- For the sanitary training ground to fully serve its purpose, it should be supplied with a stock of military-medical supplies, mobile installations, available materials, and trenching tools.-As can be seen from the above, the sanitary training ground should not turn into an 'open-air military-medical museum'. All installations on it are of a temporary nature; s '2£-& the main purpose of the sanitary training ground is to serve as a place for practicing in deploying and equipping these installations, in verifying theoretical calculations, and in acquiring field skills through repeated exercises on various operational backgrounds. For this purpose, all work on the sanitary training ground is carried out by solving various sanitary problems arising from a conventionally accepted operational (combat) situation. The sanitary training ground should have a nearby camp where those undergoing practical training are accommodated. In addition to its main purpose, the sanitary training ground can serve as a place for testing various new field military-medical devices or installations intended to be introduced into practice or into the supply of the army's medical service before these devices and installations are tested again in troops (during maneuvers). 'Ground tests' are extremely useful and appropriate, as they allow for the timely elimination of detected defects and for making improvements to the prototype designs before 'troop tests'.