Maximizing patient thermoregulation in US Army forward surgical teams.

The forward surgical team (FST), designed for mobility, provides level II forward life saving and resuscitative surgery. Resuscitative surgery includes controlling hemorrhage from traumatic amputation, as well as damage control surgery, usually an “abbreviated” laparotomy or thoracotomy. The goals of the abbreviated operation are to stop hemorrhage and gastrointestinal soilage. The overall goal of damage control surgery includes avoidance of acidosis, coagulopathy, and hypothermia, also known as the “lethal triad” or “bloody viscous cycle.”