Civilian and military medicine together in the face of hybrid threats
Bydgoszcz, Poland 24-26 June 2026
That is what I went to Bydgoszcz, Poland, to talk about. POLON CBRNE 2026, the VI International Scientific Conference and Workshops, took place at Kazimierz Wielki University, on civil protection and civil defence in the face of contemporary CBRNe threats and hybrid warfare.My speech, "“Strengthening Civil-Military Cooperation in Hybrid Threat Environments”, opened the Conference and the first panel, on technology and CBRNe risk, moderated by Prof. Łukasz Jureńczyk (UKW) and Dr Mariusz Urban. I spoke alongside Prof. Sławomir Neffe (Military University of Technology), Gwyn Winfield (CBRNe World) and Mykhailo Ishychkin, who presented on radiological, chemical and biological protection in Ukraine, a reminder that for some colleagues in that room, none of this is a planning scenario. CEMEC took part as a scientific partner of the conference, and I served on the Scientific Committee chaired by Prof. Neffe.
The second day is the one I will remember. Decontamination lines run outdoors, CZT cameras locating a radiological source hidden in a vehicle, Raman spectroscopy identifying unknown substances, field PCR for biological threats, CBRN simulators, UAV reconnaissance, crisis-management platforms, first-aid training, including for search-and-rescue dogs. Equipment in people's hands, procedures tested rather than described.
Alongside it, students and doctoral candidates from UKW, Nicolaus Copernicus University, the War Studies University, the Fire Academy, the Military University of Technology and Warsaw University of Technology presented their own research. Some of them will be running these systems in ten years. Bringing them into the room this early is the right instinct.
My thanks to the CBRNE Safety Experts Association and, in particular, to Dr Mariusz Urban, whose leadership as Chair of the Organising Committee was instrumental in bringing together science, operational expertise and practical experience throughout the two-day event.
Interoperability between civilian and military medicine cannot be improvised on the day of the alarm. It has to be built patiently, in training, between emergencies, and that is work CEMEC will keep doing with its Polish and international partners.
#CBRNe #CivilProtection #DisasterMedicine #HybridThreats #Preparedness #CEMEC
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