Advertisement
Taiwan
ChinaMilitary

Taiwan looks to boost medical facilities to better treat mass casualties in case of war with mainland China

  • Budget sent to island’s legislature seeks US$31 million to support the military’s medical capacity
  • New tomography machines would be used in the event of radioactive disasters as the island’s defence ministry warns PLA could attack power plants

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
19
Taiwan’s defence ministry is seeking money in the 2024 budget to boost medical facilities on the island, ready for a mass casualty event, such as an attack from mainland China. Photo: Reuters
Lawrence Chungin Taipei
Escalating cross-strait tensions have prompted Taiwan to plan new medical facilities to better treat mass casualties in the event of conflict with mainland China.
Advertisement
The island’s defence ministry proposes to spend NT$986.3 million (US$31 million) on facilities to support the military’s medical capacity to preserve combat forces, according to the budget for the 2024 financial year sent to the legislature for review in the upcoming session that begins on September 11.

Under the plan for the next four years, the ministry’s medical affairs bureau will acquire 221 types of facilities, including mobile X-ray machines, C-arms widely used during orthopaedic, urology and other emergency procedures and plasma storage freezers for keeping blood at minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit).

02:36

Mainland China launches military drill near Taiwan in ‘severe warning to separatist forces’

Mainland China launches military drill near Taiwan in ‘severe warning to separatist forces’

Some NT$542 million will pay for 47 kinds of facilities – including ultrasonic imaging scanners and those for hybrid operation rooms – in the next two years, according to the plan.

The bureau will spend NT$187 million to acquire positron emission tomography machines that measure physiological function by assessing blood flow, metabolism, neurotransmitters and radiolabelled drugs.

The tomography machines would be used in the event of radioactive disasters, including those caused by a nuclear bomb explosion or a power plant leak, according to the ministry.

Advertisement
It said that in the face of the growing threat of attack from the mainland’s People’s Liberation Army, the bureau must prepare to switch its hospitals and civilian medical centres into wartime hospitals to swiftly and effectively treat anyone injured in a potential cross-strait conflict.

Advertisement