The need for and prospects of developing a modern mobile laboratory complex for equipping sanitary and preventive organizations of the Russian Ministry of Defense

Presently, an increasing volume of laboratory tests performed by sanitary and preventive organizations of the Russian Ministry of Defense (centers of state sanitary and epidemiological supervision) are carried out directly in the field during various combat training activities and special tasks and the localization and elimination of epidemic foci of infectious diseases in organized military collectives. Thus, non-staff mobile sanitary-epidemiological groups are formed. However, the regular special military equipment—medical field laboratory—used to equip such groups, is outdated and does not provide the basic principles of their autonomous functioning (mobility, autonomy, multidisciplinarity, high manufacturability, zoning of workplaces, compliance with biological safety requirements). Hence, the need for and prospects of developing a new automotive laboratory complex for equipping sanitary and prophylactic organizations of the Russian Ministry of Defense are investigated. This study analyzes the experience of military sanitary-preventive organizations for the period 2011–2021. The tactical and technical characteristics of the staff laboratory of the medical field laboratory of the state sanitary and epidemiological supervision centers of the Russian Ministry of Defense are compared with available analogues, including those in the institutions of other ministries and departments. As the number of long visits of military sanitary specialists and preventive organizations significantly increases to the extent of providing temporary accommodation for military units to ensure the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the personnel, the need for laboratory research in isolation from the network of stationary laboratories to objectify the activities of the state sanitary and epidemiological supervision and ensure the anti-epidemic protection of troops also significantly increases. Moreover, the drawbacks of the standard medical field laboratory and its analogues and hence their limited use in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defense in existing configurations were identified. The obtained results enabled reasoning for the need for a new automotive laboratory complex for equipping sanitary and preventive organizations of the Russian Ministry of Defense considering the successful solutions in laboratory complexes of other ministries and departments.