Red Cross field hospital: expert help in times of need
A Finnish Red Cross field hospital can be sent to an area where health care services are unable to meet people's needs adequately due to a natural disaster or conflict, for example.
Our field hospital provides the same level of care as a regional hospital. The hospital has 24-hour wards for surgery and traumatology, internal medicine, infectious diseases and paediatrics. Furthermore, it provides gynaecology and maternity care services, including a labour ward.
The hospital includes the following:
- operating theatre
- laboratory and X-ray services
- physiotherapy
- psychosocial support services.
The hospital can treat 150–250 patients a day and has 50 beds. A field hospital can serve an area with a population of between 200,000 and 300,000 people. It can be equipped as needed, for example to respond to epidemics, to be adapted to have a surgical focus or to add more inpatient beds.
The hospital is run by around 35–45 aid workers together with local staff.
The hospital has been designed to be as self-sufficient as possible, taking care of the hospital's blood supply, electricity, clean water and waste management. Setting up a hospital on location requires a suitable site for the hospital, fuel and raw water.
Hospitals built in modules
The Finnish Red Cross is a major disaster health actor in the global Red Cross and Red Crescent movement. Sending and maintaining a field hospital in the midst of a disaster always requires significant efforts, which is why a field hospital is usually set up in cooperation with other organisations of the global Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. In addition to the Finnish Red Cross, Red Cross Societies in Japan, Canada, Norway and Germany have similar field hospitals.
To ensure the success of joint operations, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has agreed on the equipment and staff to be assigned to each medical unit. The units are built in modules so that the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of different countries can work together to provide things like the equipment and skills needed in a hospital.
In Finland, equipment for the field hospital is stored at the Finnish Red Cross logistics centre in Tampere, where logistics and disaster health professionals make the necessary purchases for the hospital. Materials for the field hospital are stored in standard-sized aluminium boxes, in which they are transported to the site.
Field hospitals strengthen local healthcare – and expertise in Finland
A field hospital is always a temporary solution that supports local healthcare. A field hospital typically operates for a few months. The hospital's equipment is then donated to organisations such as the local Red Cross or Red Crescent or health care authorities.
Training local staff and sharing skills to strengthen disaster preparedness are a key part of the operations of field hospitals and clinics. Local professionals and volunteers always play an important role in the operation of the field hospital.
Health and other professionals working abroad bring with them experience in areas such as disaster health, which is limited in Finland, upon return. These employees share their knowledge at their workplaces and strengthen the preparedness of the Finnish healthcare system for events such as major disasters and emergencies.
Red Cross field hospitals have been in demand in recent years in crises around the world. Since 2024, a field hospital run jointly by the International Committee of the Red Cross and national Red Cross Societies from different countries has been supporting health care in a very difficult situation in Gaza. In 2021, a field hospital run by the Finnish Red Cross helped people affected by the earthquake in Haiti.
For more information about field hospitals, visit the website of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies here.
