Training tomorrow's military surgeons: lessons from the past and challenges for the future

Practicing Military Medicine in Truly Austere Environments: What to Expect, How to Prepare, When to Improvise

Introduction

The majority of the published literature on contemporary military medicine contradicts the concept of austere. Operational medicine is part of every armed conflict around the world, while armed forces of most countries internationally have limited medical resources especially in the front line. The aim of this review is to identify the particularities of a truly austere environment and present a short guide of preparation and action for military medical personnel internationally.

Materials and Methods

An exhaustive search of the existing English literature on operational and military medicine in austere environments was carried out in EMBASE and PubMed databases.

Results

This review included seminal and contemporary papers on the subject and synthesized a multiperspective short guide for operational medical personnel.

Discussion

Experience from forward surgical teams of the U.S. Army and humanitarian teams of physicians in war zones who work under precarious and austere circumstances has shown that the management of casualties requires different strategies than in higher levels of combat casualty care and in a civilian setting. A number of factors that must be controlled can be categorized into human, environmental, equipment-related, and socioeconomic. Surgeons and other medical personnel should have knowledge of these aspects beforehand and be adequately trained in peacetime. Physicians must master a number of essential skills and drugs, and be familiar with dosage regimens and side effects.

Conclusion

The military surgeon must be specially trained and prepared to use a wide range of skills in truly austere environments in contemporary conflicts.

[Vascular surgical training concept for military surgeons in Germany]

BACKGROUND

Due to the increasing threat of terrorist attacks and assassinations even in Europe, the interest in management of severe vascular injuries, which, with an increased incidence of 10% are to be expected with such penetrating wounds, is also growing; however, with increasing subspecialization in surgery there is a threat that the know-how in vascular surgery will become lost among non-vascular surgical specialists. Therefore, the Germany military established an educational program, the so-called DUO^plus concept, to ensure that future military surgeons acquire and retain the experience and skills to fulfill the demanding role of a deployed surgeon.

OBJECTIVE

The DUO^plus concept of the German Medical Forces is introduced with a special focus on vascular surgery training.

RESULTS

All trainee German military surgeons attain a second specialization alongside general surgery. This residency includes several courses in various surgical specialties as well as a 12-month rotation in a vascular surgery department. The core elements of vascular trauma training are two practical courses on life-like models. In these courses, which were developed especially for the needs of non-vascular surgeons in hands-on training, open surgical techniques and damage control measures including resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) are taught on suitable models and intensively practiced.

CONCLUSION

All surgeons potentially confronted with traumatic and iatrogenic vascular injuries should have some basic competence in the management of vascular trauma. Especially the courses in vascular surgery for non-vascular surgeons offer such a skill set for every surgeon. Next to the German military surgeons, the courses are attended more and more by civilian and military surgeons from different surgical specialties and nationalities.

Forward Surgical Team Experience (FSTE) Is Associated With Increased Confidence With Combat Surgeon Trauma Skills

Introduction

Little is known regarding the confidence of military surgeons prior to combat zone deployment. Military surgeons are frequently deployed without peers experienced in combat surgery. We hypothesized that forward surgical team experience (FSTE) increases surgeon confidence with critical skill sets.

Methods

We conducted a national survey of military affiliated personnel. We used a novel survey instrument that was piloted and validated by experienced military surgeons to collect demographics, education, practice patterns, and confidence parameters for trauma and surgical critical care skills. Skills were defined as crucial operative techniques for hemorrhage control and resuscitation. Surveyors were blinded to participants, and surveys were returned electronically via REDCap database. Data were analyzed with SPSS using appropriate models. Significance was considered p < 0.05.

Results

Of 174 distributed surveys, 86 were completed. Nine individuals failed to characterize their FSTE, thus leaving a sample size of 77. At the time of first deployment, 78.4% were alone or with less experienced surgeons and 53.2% had less than 2 yr of post-residency practice. The respondents' confidence in damage control techniques and seven other trauma skills increased relative to FSTE. After adjusting for years of practice, number of trauma resuscitations performed per month and pre-deployment training, there remained a significant positive association between FSTE and confidence in damage control, thoracic surgery, extremity/junctional hemorrhage control, trauma systems administration, adult critical care and airway management.

Conclusions

Training programs and years of general surgery practice do not replace FSTE among military surgeons. Pre-deployment training that mimics FST skill sets should be developed to improve military surgeon confidence and outcomes.

Level of Evidence

Prognostic and Epidemiologic, Level IV.

Winds of War: Enhancing Civilian and Military Partnerships to Assure Readiness: White Paper

This White Paper summarizes the state of readiness of combat surgeons and provides action recommendations that address the problems of how to train, sustain, and retain them for future armed conflicts. As the basis for the 2014 Scudder Oration, I explored how to secure an improved partnership between military and civilian surgery, which would optimize learning platforms and embed military trauma personnel at America's academic medical universities for trauma combat casualty care (TCCC). To craft and validate these recommendations, I conducted an integrative and iterative process of literature reviews, interviews of military and civilian leaders, and a survey of military-affiliated surgeons. The recommended action points advance the training of combat surgeons and their trauma teams by creating an expanded network of TCCC training sites and sourcing the cadre of combat-seasoned surgeons currently populating our civilian and military teaching hospitals and universities. The recommendation for the establishment of a TCCC readiness center or command within the Medical Health System of the Department of Defense includes a military and civilian advisory board, with the reformation of a think tank of content experts to address high-level solutions for military medicine, readiness, and TCCC.

Lessons learned from the experience of visceral military surgeons in the French role 3 Medical Treatment Facility of Kabul (Afghanistan): an extended skill mix required

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the activity of visceral surgeons assigned to the Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) (role 3) in Kabul International Airport (KAIA) and identify the skills and qualifications required by these specialists.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Between July 2009 and December 2010, all the patients operated by the visceral surgeons were eligible for inclusion in this study. They were International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) soldiers, non-afghan civilians personnel and local nationals (LNs). They sustained war-related injuries, non-war related trauma emergencies, non-trauma related emergencies or had elective surgical care. The mechanisms and types of injuries, the affected organs and the surgical procedures were collected.

RESULTS

Over the period of study, the visceral surgeons treated 261 over 971 patients (26.9%) achieving a total of 438 surgical procedures. Thirty one percent of these procedures were war-related, 26% non-war related, 24.2% non-trauma related emergencies and 18.1% elective surgery. Non-trauma related emergencies and elective surgery required the same skills as in civilian practice. War-related injuries and non-war related trauma emergencies were more challenging. Combined injuries represented 56% of the cases requiring damage control resuscitation procedures and/or treatment of severe burns. Life-threatening thoracic or vascular injuries (30%) required life-saving emergency surgical procedures.

CONCLUSION

A visceral surgeon in a role 3 MTF should master a wide range of skills and expertise to be able to deal with many complex situations, in particular life-threatening situations such as thoracic and vascular wounds. A comprehensive surgical training programme for surgeons in abroad deployment (Advance Course for Deployment Surgery - CACHIRMEX) has been designed and settled up in 2007 to provide these necessary skills. The feedback obtained from each previous deployment demonstrates that the advanced course for deployment surgery provides visceral surgeons the necessary skills required to deliver surgical healthcare in a role 3 MTF. However, a regular assessment of this programme is mandatory to ensure that this training stays appropriate and contributes to better outcomes and a decreased mortality rate.