|
Officers and soldiers of the National Armed Forces frequently come into close contact, interact in various day-to-day activities, and due to the nature of their work tend to be confined in the same spaces for long periods of time, increasing the risk of transmission of infectious diseases. To improve the command and control operations of the National Armed Forces, intensive monitoring and a notification operation system have been employed for early detection of infectious diseases or group infections in various units of the National Armed Forces, helping establish accurate anti-epidemic measures. As such, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has cited from the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) with regard to the establishment of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) as establishes a "National Armed Forces Epidemic Command Center" (NAFECC) to implement the guidance and central epidemic prevention policy, and to improve the epidemic command and control system of the National Armed Forces.
Under the NAFECC, three operation teams have been set up: the Epidemic Surveillance Response Team, the Epidemic Prevention Advocacy Team, and the Epidemic Prevention Inspection Team. On regular working days, they correspond to measures implemented by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control of the WOHW, and work to coordinate and plan various epidemic prevention policies for the National Armed Forces. In a time of crisis (an epidemic), it will synchronize with the CECC and put in place mechanisms, while each group sets up subsidiary teams according to different functions and levels, to fully carry out epidemic control operations of the National Armed Forces.
The Epidemic Command Center (ECC) will comprise a Director's Office, a General Affairs Office, and a Epidemic Control Conference Room. The latter is mainly working in response to the outbreak of epidemic, so that various groups of on-duty personnel can take residence on a rotation basis as it collaborates with the central government when crisis levels are high. As such, the ECC can effectively master guidance of the latest policies and control the implementation of various epidemic prevention measures. To ensure information security of the National Armed Forces, the conference room is designed with an "Intelligent Information System" with built-in high-resolution intelligence status monitoring displays and digital real-time information displays to monitor various epidemics of the National Armed Forces in real time. Furthermore, the system can help facilitate online video conferences with the CECC and affiliated units of the MND and it not only enables remote video and policy communication, but can also be used to share epidemic monitoring information of the ECC ‘live’, further helping to safeguard the health of the National Armed Forces.
The establishment of the NAFECC is an important milestone in the history of the MND for infectious disease prevention. Disease prevention is conducted through a rigorous monitoring system and an immediate notification mechanism, so that precise epidemic prevention measures can be provided as necessary to allow good health and combat power of the National Armed Forces to prevail, helping those who serve focus on their combat training and upholding the morale of the National Armed Forces.
Although the epidemic situation in the country has slowed recently, the international epidemic continues to rage wildly. The MND will uphold the spirit of "acting with extreme caution, as if walking on thin ice", and persistently require all units to follow the principle of "establishing a personal defense line and block the chain of infection" while implementing central epidemic prevention policy. All such epidemic prevention operations should help ensure the health and safety of all servicemen and safeguard our nationals.
|