BACKGROUND Fresh whole blood (FrWB) is routinely used in the resuscitation of combat casualties in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. However, studies have shown high rates (20%-40%) of transfusion-associated microchimerism (TA-MC) in civilian trauma patients receiving allogenic red blood cell (RBC) transfusions. We explored the incidence of TA-MC in combat casualties recei...

Since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the US military has treated more than 51,000 casualties and sustained more than 6,600 deaths. The past decade of conflict has solidified major advances in the use of blood component therapy and the liberal use of fresh whole blood during damage control resuscitation. This resuscitation strategy, combined with far for...

Civilian populations are at risk from exposure to toxic materials as a result of accidental or deliberate exposure. In addition to industrial hazards, toxic agents designed for use in warfare now are a potential hazard in everyday life through terrorist action. Civil emergency medical responders should be able to adapt their plans for dealing with casualties from hazardous materials (HazMat) to...

On May 12, 2008, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake occurred in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province. In this disaster, 69,000 people were killed, 18,000 people were reported missing, and 37,000 people were injured, including more than 10,000 who were seriously injured. Trauma was the most commonly observed type of injury, with fractures accounting for 74% of all injury cases. On April 14, 2010, a 7.1-magnitude...

Background: Today, unfortunately, we are witnessing the expansion of competition in the world over the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction. Weapons of mass destruction are a set of weapons whose use causes widespread destruction and destruction of the environment and large-scale killing and massive human casualties, leaving no distinction between military and civilian and leaving irrepar...

Anaesthetists in the Defence Medical Services (DMS) are currently dealing with casualties who have an increased prevalence of injuries due to blast, fragmentation and gunshot wounds. Despite guidelines already existing for unanticipated difficult tracheal intubation these have been designed for a civilian population and might not be relevant for the anticipated difficult airway experienced in t...

This article reviews the literature describing four chemical and nuclear accidents and the lessons learned from each regarding the evacuation of civilian populations. Evacuation may save lives however, if poorly orchestrated, it may cause serious problems. For example, an inaccurate assessment of danger may lead to the evacuation of the same population twice, as the area requiring evacuation be...

combat andpsychiatric breakdownhas beenwellrecognised fordecades.The change to smaller, professional armed forceshas reduced the riskof large-scale acute psychiatric casualties, and should have led to a correspondingdecrease in long-termillhealth, butthis expected reduction seemsnotto havehappened. Likewise, attempts atpreventing psychiatric injury, by screeningbefore deploymentordebriefingafte...

On 12 January 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated the island nation of Haiti, leading to the world's largest humanitarian effort in over 6 decades. The catastrophe caused massive destruction of homes and buildings and overwhelmed the Haitian health care system. The United States responded immediately with a massive relief effort, sending U.S. military forces and civilian volunteers to H...

S ince 1952, the US Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) Burn Center has provided comprehensive care for patients who have sustained severe thermal trauma, inhalation injury, and other diseases related to burn trauma. The Army Burn Center serves the entire population encompassed by the military health care system as well as veterans and civilian emergency patients requiring burn center ...