Photo By Michelle Thum | Col. Michael Nippgen, Commanding Medical Officer of the Supervisory Center East of...... read more read more
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany – More than 120 military veterinary personnel from 20 countries participated in the International Military Veterinary Medical Symposium, hosted by Public Health Command Europe in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, May 8-12.
The annual symposium brings together military veterinarians from the U.S., NATO allies and partner nations to exchange and discuss best practices, share ideas, build interoperability and foster relationships.
According to Brigadier General Clinton Murray, Medical Readiness Command, Europe, Director Defense Health Agency Europe, and Command Surgeon U.S. Army Europe-Africa, the symposium meets all four of General Williams’s Lines of Effort for the European Theater, “from a One Health perspective, our veterinarians sort of live in that sweet spot from an animal health, human health and then an environmental perspective, whether it’s water or food or vectors, all of that is incredibly important.”
During the four-day symposium, representatives from the participating countries provided presentations that accentuated best practices and challenges in veterinary public health, food safety and defense and zoonotic disease surveillance and controls.
"This year’s theme, "Enabling Readiness through Veterinary Public Health", highlights the work we do as veterinarians and public health professionals to keep our service members and communities healthy," stated Col. Kenneth Spicer, Public Health Command Europe commander. “We look forward to sharing best practices with each other and working together to overcome current and future challenges.”
Presentations aimed to highlight the many ways attending countries approach public health. The conference offered the opportunity to exchange knowledge, ideas, and challenges in hope of building and strengthening partnerships in the dynamic European theater.
“Our goal should be being ready at the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment and with the right training,” said Col. Deborah Whitmer, U.S. Army Veterinary Corps Chief. “We don’t know what the next threat will be. We need to develop key leaders and partnerships so we can get through the delay of introductions and respond more efficiently and effectively with our partners and allies.”
The conference kicked off with a presentation by Dr. Lori Teller who offered an update from the American Veterinary Medical Association.
“I think that veterinarians, particularly military veterinarians, have a lot more public health knowledge because we have a broad perspective on all the species. Before this meeting, I was unaware of the vast amount that the veterinarians did to ensure that there is a safe and protected food and water supply,” said Teller. “That goes across the board; if we don’t have safe food and water, you’re not going to be ready for battle.”
Combating zoonotic diseases and how those affect our military was another block of presentations, highlighted by “Keeping the Country (of Slovakia) Rabies Free” presented by Lt. Col. Tomas Molcanyi, Commander, Department of Wildlife Hazard Management Military Medical Command of the Slovakian Armed Forces. “There were several talks, both in the front and during coffee breaks, on the importance of Force Health Protection,” he remarked. “Non-combat injuries are a huge portion (of causes) that disables troops. We need to think about enabling our forces on the whole spectrum. Not just (from the) surgical point of view.”
The attendees of the symposium are new and returning military veterinarians.
Lt. Col. Pedro Silva with Centro Militar de Medicina Veterinaria has been to IMVS several times and looks forward to the event every year.
“I truly enjoy the diversity of this symposium. This year, there were a lot of different presentations, with a lot of different topics, and I think it’s important,” said Silva. “I think there was an interesting mixture of U.S. speakers and non-US NATO speakers. I think you reached that goal of being multinational. I think there was an effort for this to be a public health congress, and the different disciplines of public health were presented.”
According to Col. Michael Nippgen, Commanding Medical Officer of the Supervisory Center East of Public Law Tasks, Bundeswehr Medical Services, this year’s symposium set a strong foundation on the impact of veterinary public health.
“The exchange of knowledge during the presentations and round tables were a perfect start because we are able to form connections and relationships,” Nippgen said. “This is just the start though, this is the basis for the fighting strength we will have in the future with our military counterparts. It’s crucial to train and learn from each other.”
“IMVS is the single meeting that veterinary services can come together and discuss specific issues that are common to all our NATO member and partner nations,” said Col. Jim Pratt, Chief of Force Health Protection at U.S. Army Europe-Africa. “It permits a formal engagement with our Int’l Veterinary Colleagues to share experiential learning and best practices, which leads to improved interoperability and common understanding that cannot be achieved in the virtual environment.”
Each year, the Veterinary Corps chooses a Brigadier General Russell McNellis Lecturer for the symposium, for this year’s conference Italian military veterinarian, Col. (ret.) Mario Marchisio, was invited to speak. The distinguished lecturer series is named after Brigadier General Russell McNellis, who is credited with saving the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps when it was slated for dissolution in 1956. Marchisio’s lecture focused on the history of public health with a robust synopsis of its origin, progression, and the key players through time.
“We are an integral component of veterinary public health,” Marchisio said. “In my experience, it is fundamental to create the opportunity to train together. Here, we break the ice. In the future theater of operation, if I trust you, and you trust me, we can start working immediately.”
The symposium concluded with Food and Water Safety and Veterinary Support Panel meeting. The NATO meeting consisted of expert panel members from more than 10 countries and focused on working towards standardizing public health and food safety and procurement processes amongst participating NATO countries.
| Date Taken: | 05.17.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.17.2023 07:57 |
| Story ID: | 444913 |
| Location: | GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, BY, DE |
| Web Views: | 354 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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