The Netherlands is strengthening its medical preparedness for a potential major conflict in Europe that could result in a sudden influx of wounded military personnel and civilians. The Defence Ministry is working closely with the Health Ministry, hospital networks, blood services, and regional emergency coordinators to ensure sufficient capacity, rapid patient transfers, and secure supply chains in the event of a crisis.
What's Being Prepared
Emergency beds and patient distribution. Hospitals are revising regional crisis plans to quickly distribute patients across multiple facilities. The UMC Utrecht Calamiteitenhospitaal (disaster hospital) has been designated as the national backup facility for large-scale emergencies. This specialised hospital is a joint operation between UMC Utrecht, the Defence Ministry, and the City of Utrecht, designed to be activated during mass-casualty events.
Military medical infrastructure upgrades. The government is allocating additional funding to rebuild and strengthen the military medical system, including personnel, field hospitals, evacuation procedures, and logistics networks as part of broader defence readiness investments.
Blood and plasma reserves. The Health Minister has emphasised the importance of maintaining adequate blood and plasma supplies for both civilian and military needs. Coordination with Sanquin (the national blood bank) and Defence is ongoing, and Parliament has been informed through official briefings.
Regional emergency drills. Healthcare regions are conducting training exercises that now include military conflict scenarios alongside cyberattacks and supply chain disruptions, testing their ability to manage staffing, transportation, and patient prioritisation under pressure.
Why This Is Happening Now
Dutch authorities anticipate that in the event of a NATO-Russia conflict, wounded personnel from allied nations would flow through the Netherlands due to its role as a key transit and logistics hub. At the same time, regular healthcare services must continue to operate. Defence budget documents highlight increased readiness requirements and the need to modernise aging infrastructure: challenges that directly impact medical logistics and military mobility.
How Hospitals Would Respond
Hospitals report they already conduct crisis training and can expand capacity in stages. However, they warn that managing sustained pressure requires adequate funding for staff, equipment, and secure supply chains for essentials like oxygen, medications, personal protective equipment, and fuel. The Calamiteitenhospitaal can be activated rapidly to handle a surge in patients, while regional plans allow non-urgent care to be transferred to less-affected facilities.
Challenges Remain
Funding and personnel: Healthcare organisations stress that surge capacity plans require dedicated funding for staff positions, reserve personnel, and rapid procurement processes, not just planning documents. Budget discussions for readiness funding are underway alongside broader defence spending.
Blood product sustainability: Parliamentary correspondence emphasises the need to maintain stable national blood and plasma reserves if casualty numbers rise, potentially requiring emergency donation campaigns or coordination at the EU level.
Cross-sector coordination: Regional healthcare networks are now incorporating military escalation scenarios into their "resilient care" planning sessions to strengthen collaboration between hospitals, emergency medical services, and Defence transport systems.
