What it is
STANAG 2879 is a NATO standardization agreement, not a technical medical standard. It is the mechanism by which NATO nations agree to implement AMedP-1.10, Edition B, the Allied Medical Publication that sets out the medical contribution to managing a major incident or a mass casualty (MASCAL) situation. The interoperability requirement behind it is to standardize the principles of that medical contribution for NATO forces. Everything a reader would actually need to design a response against, the clinical and planning content, lives in AMedP-1.10 itself, which has its own page; this record covers the agreement around it.
Who commits, and to what
Participating nations agree to implement AMedP-1.10, and that ratification is recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD). The STANAG is effective upon receipt for use by the participating nations and NATO bodies; partner nations are invited, rather than required, to report their own implementation through the same electronic reporting tool. It binds a nation, not a company, and the current edition carries no NATO-wide compliance date: the NATO Effective Date is recorded as not applicable.
What implementation actually involves
A nation implementing the agreement has to update its medical principles for major incidents and MASCAL situations, prepare preparatory medical plans for them, train medical and other military personnel on those principles, provide the appropriate medical and military capabilities, and keep training programmes and exercises current, with particular focus on upcoming deployments. Allies and NATO bodies report their implementation through NATO's electronic reporting tool. This is Edition 5 of the agreement, and it supersedes Edition 4, dated 3 December 2015. It is reviewed in accordance with AAP-03, and the outcome is recorded in the NSDD.
Where it sits among other NATO medical standards
Beyond AMedP-1.10, the cover names a set of related NATO publications: allied joint medical doctrine and planning (STANAG 2228, STANAG 2542 with AJMedP-1, and STANAG 2546 with AJMedP-2); aeromedical evacuation (STANAG 2087 with AAMedP-1.5, and STANAG 3204 with AAMedP-1.1); training (STANAG 2122 with AMedP-8.15, and STANAG 2544 with AMedP-8.12); CBRN casualty care (STANAG 2358 with AMedP-7.2, and STANAG 2461 with AMedP-7.1); and major fire and emergency response (STANAG 7179). Its own review runs under AAP-03. Three further documents are named on the cover but sit outside our catalogue: MC 0326/4, ACO DIR 83-1 and ACO DIR 80-25.
No certification or audit applies to this agreement. What is checked is whether a nation has ratified and implemented it, and that is self-reported to NATO through the NSDD and the electronic reporting tool, not assessed by any third party.