STANAG 2358 covering agreement for the CBRN first aid handbook

What it is

STANAG 2358 is NATO's covering agreement for AMedP-7.2, Edition A, "CBRN first aid handbook." This is Edition 5 of the STANAG, promulgated 15 February 2018, and it supersedes Edition 4.

A STANAG is not the specification

A STANAG is the agreement by which NATO nations commit to implement a standard, not the technical content itself. STANAG 2358's own text is short and administrative: an aim, an agreement, a list of related documents, and the ratification, implementation and review machinery. The publication it names, AMedP-7.2, Edition A, is where the operational content actually sits, and its own record is the place to look for what it covers.

What the agreement covers

The stated aim responds to an interoperability requirement: a coordinated response to CBRN incidents involving both military and civilian personnel, in support of NATO's Defence Against Terrorism programme. Participating nations agree to implement AMedP-7.2, Edition A, which is the standard named in the agreement clause. The cover also lists two other STANAGs as related documents: STANAG 2461, which covers AMedP-6, Volume I, on the medical aspects of NBC defensive operations, and STANAG 2873, which covers AMedP-7.6, a commander's guide on medical support to CBRN defensive operations.

Who it binds, and how

STANAG 2358 binds nations, not suppliers. Nations are invited to examine their own ratification of the STANAG and, where they have not already done so, to advise the NATO Standardization Office of their intention regarding implementation; the responses are recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD). Implementation is a further, separate step, coming into effect once a nation has issued the orders and instructions needed to put the covered standard's content into practice. Nations report their effective implementation using a form in Annex H to AAP-03, suffixed "(J)" in this edition; partner nations report adoption using Annex G of the same publication. The STANAG is reviewed at least once every three years, with the result recorded in the NSDD, and any nation or NATO body may propose a change to the tasking authority at any time.

Tasking authority and custodian

The tasking authority is the Military Committee Medical Standardization Board, through the Medical Standardization Working Group (MCMedSB, MedStdWG). The custodian is the United Kingdom, through its Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Medical Working Group (CBRNMedWG).

How it's evaluated

STANAG 2358 describes no certification scheme and no audit. What it describes is nations reporting their ratification and implementation status to the NATO Standardization Office for the record; the document never uses the word "certified" or "certification." Where the operational content AMedP-7.2 sets out does get checked in practice, the assessor and the evidence required are set by that publication and by the contract or tasking that invokes it, not by this cover agreement.

Standards it references

STANAG 2358 covers AMedP-7.2, the Allied Medical Publication that carries the CBRN first aid content itself. Its "Other Related Documents" list STANAG 2461 (covering AMedP-6, Volume I, on the medical aspects of NBC defensive operations) and STANAG 2873 (covering AMedP-7.6, a commander's guide on medical support to CBRN defensive operations). Reports of ratification and implementation use forms in AAP-03.

Standards it references

• STANAG 2461Background
• STANAG 2873Background
• AMedP-7.6Background