Using Advanced Prosthetics for Stress Inoculation Training and to Teach Life Saving Skills

This paper discusses new developments in advanced medical technology which may in the short term be applicable to NATO multinational medical operations. To supply more realistic military medical training, The Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) conceptualized and developed a unique injury simulator as an adjunct to current combat medic training. This initial technology, called Injury Creation Science (ICS), very realistically simulated a number of battlefield injuries such as amputations, eviscerations, blast injuries, punctures, and burns. Since the initial prototypes, VRMC has developed this technology into wearable “part-task trainers” that simulate injuries as well as allow combat medics to practice actual medical procedures common to the battlefield. The progression of these “trainers” has been under the guidance and partnership with the U.S. Army Research and Engineering Command – Simulation and Technology Training Center (RDECOM – STTC). The procedures currently available or under development include treatment of pneumothorax, hemoperitonium, and gunshot wounds to an artery. By integrating medical science with cutting edge simulation and training technologies, realistic prosthetic tissue, wounds, and part task trainers have been developed for the training of trauma care clinicians. The next generation of Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) includes the use of prosthetics developed based on human anatomy and physiology, material science, and nanotechnology. Testing has revealed that these products are highly useful and reliable and can easily be integrated into existing protocols for enhancement of the training experience. 1.0 NEXT GENERATION INJURY CREATION SCIENCE A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released in 1998 stated that military medical personnel have little to no practice with battlefield trauma care skills during peacetime. An additional report by the National Library of Medicine’s Institute of Medicine indicated that approximately 98,000 individuals in the U.S. die each year as a result of medical practice mistakes. Most current medical simulation training relies on plastic forms, computerized mannequins, animals, and cadavers. Each of these has significant drawbacks, such as incorrect anatomy (animals), lack of realism (plastic forms and mannequins), limited use (cadavers), and expense. In addition, they do not replicate the majority of injuries encountered on the battlefield [1]. Report Documentation Page Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number.