The Army Medical Corps is a military administrative non-combatant staff corps and a primary military medical command of the Pakistan Army serving in a support and military medical role. The corps also has a secondary role of providing civil services in health, rehabilitation, and disaster relief.
Type: Combat Medical Support (Logistics)
Role: Combat Medical Support/Humanitarian
Size: +80,000
Headquarters: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Role
They are operationally responsible for providing support to the Army in all its combat operations, so that the move of the Army is facilitated offensive operations and the move of the enemy is impeded while own Army in defense. Medical Core Doctors are also responsible for the survivability of the Army, serving each soldier both in the battlefield and back in the temporary and permanent care hospitals.
Besides their primary role in serving the Pakistan Army both in battle and in the conditions of peace, the Pakistan Army Medical Corps undertakes many peace time activities such as…
*Provision of health services to the civilian community through a vast chain of Combined Military Hospitals (CMHs)
*Combating situations of disaster by providing rehabilitation services
*Establishing “health centers” in remote locations so that all Pakistanis can reach health facilities easily.
History
The corps was originally part of Indian army before partition but after partition in 1947, the Pakistan Army raised its own medical corps.
This corps has actively taken part in all of Pakistan’s engagements such as
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Battle of Rann of Kutch of 1965
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Siachen conflict of 1984
Bosnian War of 1992-95
Indo-Pakistani War of 1999
Kashmir earthquake of 2005
War in North-West Pakistan
Operation Black Thunderstorm
Battle of Bajaur
Second Battle of Swat.
Since 1947 the Pakistan Army Medical Corps has provided services in the majority of health-related fields. In the past personnel were taken from Army Medical Colleges, but with the need of more health professionals in the army as well as an increased demand for their services, the corps has begun to recruit civilians’ medical personnel
Role in national disasters
In times of natural disaster, such as the great of 1992 or the devastating October 2005 earthquake, army engineers, medical and logistics personnel, and the armed forces have played a major role in bringing relief and supplies.
Role in international disasters
The Army medical corps has been involved in relief activities not only in Pakistan but also in many other countries of the world, such as the relief activities after Bangladesh was recently hit by floods. The Army also dispatched relief to Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka after they were hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting tsunami. Both the Pakistan Army and Navy sent ships and helicopters to assist in the Japanese tsunami relief operations as well.
Role in the united nations
The Pakistan Army Medical Corps is one of the largest contributors of health services to United Nations. Since 1960 Pakistan has been actively involved in most of the UN peacekeeping, rehabilitation and health providing missions
