Bei Krankheiten oder Verletzungen melden sich Soldatinnen und Soldaten zunächst in ihrer Einheit krank und wenden sich anschließend an ihre zuständige Regionale Sanitätseinrichtung in der Bundeswehr. Das kann eine Arztgruppe oder ein Sanitätsversorgungszentrum sein.
All German military personnel receive free military medical care as the Bundeswehr’s equivalent to civilian health insurance. Servicemen and women who are ill or injured go to their unit physician for treatment.
However, there are some small but important differences between the military and the civilian health care systems. For example, military personnel do not have to pay prescription charges for medication and most medical aids or treatments, such as physiotherapy. Another difference is that military physicians and dentists are Medical Service officers and therefore wear uniforms. They are therefore not only medics but also comrades, which creates a more personal atmosphere.
For acute health problems or medical issues, a unit physician in a regional medical treatment facility is the first point of contact. There are a total of 128 medical clinics across Germany. They can refer servicemen and women to specialist civilian or military medical facilities, Bundeswehr hospitals or civilian hospitals, and prescribe medication or treatment, for example, physiotherapy, prescription glasses or orthopaedic aids. They also carry out preventive measures such as vaccinations and check-ups.
The Bundeswehr also has five Bundeswehr hospitals as well as specialist medical clinics with a similar set up to that of civilian community health care centres, with ophthalmologists, dermatologists, ear, nose and throat specialists, orthopaedists, trauma surgeons, internal medicine specialists, neurologists and psychiatrists.
Bundeswehr medical care is focussed on promoting and protecting the individual health of our service personnel as well as restoring their health in the event of illness. The aim is to sustain optimum operational readiness, which is the most important asset of powerful armed forces.
Modern dentistry in the Bundeswehr: From the examination to determine a soldier’s Dental Fitness Classification to the provision of dental prostheses, dentistry plays a decisive role in the operational readiness of service personnel.
Bundeswehr/Sebastian WilkeJust over 300 unit dentists and more than 1,000 military and civilian dental assistants work for the Medical Service. The Service has more than 140 dental clinics, which are based at Bundeswehr barracks throughout Germany. To ensure they are operationally ready, military personnel have access to a comprehensive range of modern dental care, from the Dental Fitness Classification examination to the provision of dental prostheses.
Furthermore, periodontists and oral surgeons are available in every region and in the Bundeswehr hospitals.
The medical care provided to our servicemen and women is excellent and on a par with the civilian health care system.
As a rule, preventive care and rehabilitation measures (formerly referred to as convalescent care) must be medically necessary and approved by a specialist physician. Preventive care is indicated if an illness or its progression can be averted but the relevant standard outpatient care options are insufficient.
Medical rehabilitation is often necessary to prevent potential impairment or care dependency, remedy or alleviate an existing impairment, or stop it from becoming worse. Consequently, therapeutic parent and child measures may also be authorised in certain circumstances. In these cases, the cost of the children’s meals and accommodation is also covered by military medical care – provided the children themselves are not in need of medical treatment.
In addition, some specialist Bundeswehr clinics also have rehabilitation centres that coordinate outpatient rehabilitation measures and carry out some of the treatments themselves. The unit physicians can also be contacted with regard to preventive health care and rehabilitation.