WEBVTT 00:00.415 --> 00:01.248 (air whooshing) 00:01.248 --> 00:02.081 (upbeat string music) 00:02.081 --> 00:04.262 (text trilling) 00:04.262 --> 00:06.120 (upbeat string music) 00:06.120 --> 00:08.400 - [Narrator] Rapid innovation is a cornerstone 00:08.400 --> 00:10.530 of the Military Health System. 00:10.530 --> 00:13.620 Thanks to lessons learned during 20 years of war, 00:13.620 --> 00:15.840 combined with the scope of the MHS 00:15.840 --> 00:17.730 and its access to a full spectrum 00:17.730 --> 00:19.770 of specialties and resources, 00:19.770 --> 00:23.250 unique medical advances in the fight against COVID-19 00:23.250 --> 00:25.770 have been diverse and numerous. 00:25.770 --> 00:27.600 - Necessity is the mother of all invention. 00:27.600 --> 00:30.480 And so, when COVID hit, we put out our guidance 00:30.480 --> 00:32.580 to the facilities to try to maximize safety 00:32.580 --> 00:35.250 for both the staff as well as the patients. 00:35.250 --> 00:37.200 - [Narrator] From the advent of rapid testing 00:37.200 --> 00:40.260 and mobile labs to track the virus in real-time 00:40.260 --> 00:41.850 to the rapid responsiveness 00:41.850 --> 00:44.610 of the COVID Convalescent Plasma Program 00:44.610 --> 00:48.450 and the inception of clinical trials across the MHS, 00:48.450 --> 00:50.190 innovative steps like these 00:50.190 --> 00:52.260 continually promote understanding 00:52.260 --> 00:54.240 and drive research and development 00:54.240 --> 00:57.570 toward a myriad of effective solutions. 00:57.570 --> 01:00.600 - Some colleagues of ours at Uniformed Services University 01:00.600 --> 01:03.780 had a really smart idea that it would be very important 01:03.780 --> 01:05.250 to start a COVID registry. 01:05.250 --> 01:08.280 And they recognized that very early on in the pandemic. 01:08.280 --> 01:12.330 We were able to modify the trauma infectious disease module, 01:12.330 --> 01:14.700 and then, really linking with USU 01:14.700 --> 01:19.140 to get that subject matter expertise on infectious disease. 01:19.140 --> 01:20.070 - [Narrator] From the Walter Reed 01:20.070 --> 01:22.050 National Military Medical Center, 01:22.050 --> 01:24.180 this breakthrough isolation chamber 01:24.180 --> 01:27.300 is protecting medical staff during surgeries. 01:27.300 --> 01:29.370 - I think we all recognize that COVID 01:29.370 --> 01:31.740 is a respiratory disease, a respiratory problem. 01:31.740 --> 01:33.960 And those clinicians, physicians, 01:33.960 --> 01:35.880 nurses, technicians, therapists, whoever, 01:35.880 --> 01:39.150 who are working around the airway are at particular risk. 01:39.150 --> 01:41.640 And so, they put their heads together and came up 01:41.640 --> 01:44.940 with the COVID airway management isolation chamber. 01:44.940 --> 01:46.740 It's a relatively inexpensive thing, 01:46.740 --> 01:48.960 just good old common sense. 01:48.960 --> 01:50.910 - [Narrator] Drive-up immunization clinics 01:50.910 --> 01:53.850 keeping patients current on important vaccinations. 01:53.850 --> 01:57.660 Drive-thru and ATM-like pharmacy solutions 01:57.660 --> 01:59.280 and the continuing evolution 01:59.280 --> 02:01.890 of telehealth and virtual medicine. 02:01.890 --> 02:05.580 - Using virtual care for patient-to-provider interactions 02:05.580 --> 02:08.130 allowed us, the Military Health System, 02:08.130 --> 02:11.910 to provide medically-necessary care throughout the pandemic, 02:11.910 --> 02:13.530 that which could not be delayed. 02:13.530 --> 02:14.880 And that's an important part. 02:14.880 --> 02:17.610 - We had to develop an innovative idea 02:17.610 --> 02:21.870 within 48 hours of receiving the order from the CG. 02:21.870 --> 02:23.970 So we stood up curbside pharmacy. 02:23.970 --> 02:27.900 - An app on a phone to talk to a provider 02:27.900 --> 02:31.893 who then puts in a prescription to a mail-order pharmacy. 02:32.850 --> 02:36.270 And then, the medication is delivered to the patient. 02:36.270 --> 02:38.520 That may be a five-minute connection 02:38.520 --> 02:42.120 with no infrastructure requirement besides connectivity 02:42.120 --> 02:44.610 and the time of the provider and the patient. 02:44.610 --> 02:47.580 And what more could be done in that patient's life? 02:47.580 --> 02:49.650 And what more could be done by that provider 02:49.650 --> 02:51.420 in providing care to other patients 02:51.420 --> 02:53.220 that are only appropriate for in-patient care 02:53.220 --> 02:55.830 or in-person care in order to maximize, 02:55.830 --> 02:58.920 really, the capacity of the medical system itself? 02:58.920 --> 03:01.110 - [Narrator] Digital and technological innovations 03:01.110 --> 03:03.990 like these pervade the Military Health System, 03:03.990 --> 03:08.550 promoting safe distancing, minimizing exposure and risk. 03:08.550 --> 03:10.080 From the heart of Texas, 03:10.080 --> 03:12.480 the ECMO heart-lung bypass intervention 03:12.480 --> 03:14.400 is a highly-specialized treatment 03:14.400 --> 03:17.703 that is saving the lives of critically-ill COVID patients. 03:18.630 --> 03:21.120 - ECMO is basically a pump 03:21.120 --> 03:24.480 that takes the blood outside of the body very fast. 03:24.480 --> 03:28.380 It removes CO2 from your blood and adds oxygen back in, 03:28.380 --> 03:30.390 and then goes back into your body. 03:30.390 --> 03:32.490 If you put a patient on early enough, 03:32.490 --> 03:35.400 you can prevent barotrauma, lung trauma. 03:35.400 --> 03:36.840 It's not a fix. 03:36.840 --> 03:38.490 It doesn't fix the COVID, 03:38.490 --> 03:41.550 but allows the lungs to rest and oxygenate the patient 03:41.550 --> 03:43.863 so they'll have a chance for survival. 03:44.760 --> 03:45.750 - [Narrator] For COVID patients 03:45.750 --> 03:48.090 suffering from severe respiratory distress, 03:48.090 --> 03:51.660 an Air Force solution is providing critical relief, 03:51.660 --> 03:52.803 the proning shelf. 03:53.880 --> 03:56.670 By streamlining the medical supply process, 03:56.670 --> 03:59.910 the Defense Health Agency is delivering biomedical equipment 03:59.910 --> 04:02.643 and PPE faster than ever before. 04:03.930 --> 04:07.170 - I would say probably the biggest challenge, 04:07.170 --> 04:10.860 and at the same time success, was supply chain management. 04:10.860 --> 04:12.120 We realized right away 04:12.120 --> 04:14.310 that there was gonna be a big spike in requirement. 04:14.310 --> 04:15.870 - Medical logistics was able 04:15.870 --> 04:18.480 to get standardized equipment out. 04:18.480 --> 04:20.430 Just think about masks, ventilators, 04:20.430 --> 04:22.710 all those kind of things that they sort of pivoted 04:22.710 --> 04:24.750 and used some of those high-reliability practices 04:24.750 --> 04:26.520 to get that standardized equipment 04:26.520 --> 04:28.080 and the packages going forward. 04:28.080 --> 04:31.170 How we shipped blood, how we moved patients. 04:31.170 --> 04:32.460 - That's one of the things 04:32.460 --> 04:34.710 that I think we're most proud of as a team. 04:34.710 --> 04:37.620 Because, obviously, in a constrained environment, 04:37.620 --> 04:40.740 you needed somebody to try to centrally manage 04:40.740 --> 04:41.823 that supply chain. 04:42.780 --> 04:44.730 - [Narrator] Thanks to these endeavors coordinated 04:44.730 --> 04:48.390 across the Military Health System Enterprise by the DHA, 04:48.390 --> 04:51.060 the continued development of unique innovations 04:51.060 --> 04:52.710 will allow healthcare warriors 04:52.710 --> 04:55.473 to advance the assault on COVID-19.