Survival rate of combat wounded improving, says Army surgeon general

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Marleah Miller | About 92 percent of Soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have made it home alive, said Lt. Gen. Nadja Y. West. Shown here, Soldiers in a tactical critical care evacuation team prepare for a patient transfer mission at Forward Operating Base Orgun East, Afghanistan. (Photo Credit: Marleah Miller, USAF)  

DC, DC, UNITED STATES

08.23.2016

Story by David Vergun       

Defense Media Activity - Army   

WASHINGTON (Army News Service) -- About 92 percent of Soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have made it home alive, said Lt. Gen. Nadja Y. West.

That's the highest percentage in the history of warfare, despite the increasing severity of battle injuries from ever-increasingly lethal weapons, she said, adding that the survival rate in Vietnam was around 75 percent.

West, surgeon general of the U.S. Army and commander of U.S. Army Medical Command, spoke here Aug. 18 to the Defense Writers Group.

FAVORABLE FACTORS

There are a number of reasons for increased survival rates, West said.

Soldiers, not just medics, are receiving much better training in lifesaving techniques, she said.

Army medicine has continued to improve as well, she added.

Another reason is that casualties have been transported swiftly back to hospitals and have received excellent care en route, she said.

Besides those factors, there are others that are less obvious, she said.

Primarily, improved "communication of information from the point of injury has been established back to all levels of care," West said.

A video teleconference between forces deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, back to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, has been established to facilitate two-way communications regarding wounded Soldiers, she said.

Landstuhl is usually the first stop for casualties, she pointed out.

Open channels of communications have also been established with follow-on treatment centers, including Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Maryland; Naval Medical Center San Diego; and the Army's burn center at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.

For example, she said during a recent VTC, "there was feedback from the physicians and staff in the U.S. saying, 'we're seeing this increased inter-cranial pressure on a head wound. So if you can possibly decompress it using this mechanism in theater.'"

The feedback also prepares medical staff stateside for the incoming casualty, West added.

FUTURE SURVIVABILITY

While battlefield survival rates continue to improve, Soldiers may not be so fortunate in future conflicts, West said.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. had "the luxury of air superiority. We could evacuate casualties almost at will," she said.

For instance, a Soldier with a head wound in Afghanistan some years back went almost straight from the point of injury to Bethesda Naval Medical Center, as it was called then, where the medical specialist was standing by. That Soldier arrived within 24 hours of being wounded, she said. "That's unprecedented."

A fight against a near-peer enemy could erode that air superiority, West said, so Army medicine is looking for alternative ways of treatment.

For one, the Army will be asking a lot more of its medics in the future. That could mean teaching them sophisticated techniques and procedures not currently performed.

First responders, those non-medics in the fight, will also be asked to do more, she said.

Telehealth will also play a vital role, she said. Telehealth already has come a long ways.

For example, a vascular surgeon back in the U.S. could instruct a medical provider in theater to do a relatively complex procedure on a blood vessel, she said. "It won't make that person a trauma surgeon but that reach-back could help when needed."

Also in the future, Soldiers might be fitted with medical sensors that collect and relay medical data to an intensive care specialist back in the U.S., where a physician could review the results and then transmit instructions to a provider on the ground.

Editor's note: to sign up for ARNEWS email subscription, visit:
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDODARNEWS/subscriber/new

• Date Taken: 08.23.2016
• Date Posted: 08.29.2016 13:53
• Story ID: 208424
• Location: DC, DC, US