Dr. Chip

$1.6 Million was given to a research team lead by professor Joseph Wang of UC San Diego, a nanoengineer, to develop a technology that will actively monitor soldiers on the battlefield. Similar to modern glucose monitoring systems for diabetics, these implants will be able to distinguish when the body is injured. This is possible by breakthrough technology in reading the sequencing of biomarkers, for when the body sustains injury, a certain sequence develops. The complex systems of the implant reads these markers, and can administer certain medications to treat accordingly.

Even though this is truly cutting edge technology, I think that the practicality of it will not be very beneficial. In some instances, such as pain management, this will definitely make a difference. But in others such as major trauma (often the case), there is only so much that this chip will be able to do for the patient; it cannot apply pressure to a wound, or provide necessary fluid resuscitation because of its size.

MOVES

For the past several years, Thornhill Research Inc. has been developing for the Marine Corps. a means to eliminate oxygen canisters from the battlefield. The Monitoring Oxygen Ventalation & External Suction system (MOVES) is designed to do just that. MOVES can be hooked up to a patient and is able to generate its' own oxygen, ventilate, suction, and monitor vitals. The need arose for this technology when aircraft were being lost to exploding oxygen canisters during fires.

MOVES is expected to go into production by spring of next year with 50 units available by the following fall. Also, as you can imagine, MOVES has large possibilities in the civilian prehospital sector, so expect to so it available soon after mass production for about $55,000 a unit.

I was very excited to read about this, it is a leap and a bound in the field of not only combat medicine, but emergency medicine as a whole. This is technology that was once thought to be impossible, but is now a reality. Who knows what else lies ahead in the near future.

Training with the Best

On October 9th, USS Boxer's Medical Dept., Fleet Surgical Team (FST) 5, and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted a mass casualty drill to evaluate their readiness to handle medical emergencies. Skills practiced involved the receiving of casualties from onshore conflict, and triaging on the flight deck before sending patients down to the intensive care unit. According to Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Stephen Richardson, these types of drills are important so that the Marine counterparts onshore know the workings and capabilities of the Boxer group. Also, it makes certain that everyone knows their role and understands it.

Boxer's medical team and the FST are capable of performing surgery, x-rays, laboratory work, and hosting a blood bank while at sea. Richardson attributes their excellent training regiment to learning from past challenges and how to overcome them.

"Doc-in-a-box"

The Shock Trauma Platoon (STP) is an invaluable asset to the Fox Company Marines in Operation Enduring Freedom. Complete with 2 medical doctors, 2 nurses, a physicians assistant, and multiple corpsmen, the STP provides the best care to Marine casualties. The STP also employs a Mobile Trauma Bay (MTB), which is an ISO container on back of a flatbed truck with everything you could ever need for an emergency room setup inside. Equipment such as an ultrasound machine and an electrocardiogram can be found inside the MTB, hence yielding the nickname "Doc-in-a-box".

Lonestar

As most people know, since the Vietnam War, evacuating battlefield casualties by helicopter has greatly increased their chances for survival. The "Lonestar" dustoff company, from Fort Worth, TX, is currently in its fourth deployment serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. These men and women are dedicated to helping those in need of immediate medical attention, and put themselves into the most dangerous of situations to do so. It is the improvements made to aircraft like these and advances in medicine that contribute to why soldiers have a better chance than ever of surviving a traumatic incident.

The MEDEVAC crew consists of two pilots, a flight medic, and a crew chief. Shifts start with a check of the aircraft and medical supplies, and run 48 hours long with a 24 hour break in between.

The Magic Cuff

Recently, Siemans Healthcare acquired a contract from U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a new technology to quickly stop severe bleeding in battlefield casualties. It is called the Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation (DBAC) cuff, and is essentially an ultrasonic tourniquet. The purpose of the cuff is to be placed over a wound to a limb, using ultrasonic waves detect where the bleed is originating, and then use high-energy waves to quickly clot the blood. Even though this may stop the bleed, it does not necessarily mean it will save the affected limb; but still may save the soldiers life. In animal studies, such technology has proven successful in stopping bleeds in major blood vessels, as well as organs. Siemans is hoping to have the prototype ready in about 18 months, at which point it will be sent straight into the field.

I think this is a great idea, though the technology seems a bit far-fetched even for our time. To have such a complex device in a rugged environment does not sound like a very good match. Also, taking into consideration that soldiers already have 40+ pounds of equipment to carry, I doubt that every one of them will be able to carry this as well. Assuming this, only certain personnel (probably medics) will carry the cuff, thereby defeating its' self-automated purpose of anyone being able to use it.

Medical Elite

At the Grafenwöhr Training Area in Germany, soldiers strive to earn the Expert Field Medical Badge by the end of the week. This qualification is given to those who pass the rigorous course that test one's medical skills, as well as physical ability and weaponry skills. This course is available to doctors, nurses, and medics alike, and those who successfully pass acquire a heightened proficiency at performing medical care in a war zone. Exercises include caring for casualties under fire, loading them into ambulances for transport, and learning to deal with different types of ordinance (biological, chemical, etc..).

One candidate, Capt. Lori Metcalf, is a family nurse practitioner in the U.S. Army. Due to the need of physician assistants in the field, the Army Nurse Corps has approved the deployment of nurse practitioners to fill the void. Expecting to be deployed into active service in the near future, Capt. Metcalf took this course to better ready herself.