Not all PFC is trauma. Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya and others will take you out of the fight if given the chance. In this episode CAPT Ryan Maves talks about some of the more concerning and prevalent diseases encountered by deployed military personnel and partner forces and what you can do about it before an infection becomes debilitating or life threatening.
A few things to remember from the episode:
History and assessment are key in identifying tropical diseases. Remember to consider both history of exposures as well as the accompanying syndromes in formulating a differential diagnoses.
Malaria treatment consists of Malerone, Coartem or both.
Why do we care about sepsis in prolonged field care? What can we do about septic shock with what we are normally carrying on a deployment? How do you mix an epinephrine drip? Dr. Maves lays it all out in about 20 minutes.
So what is different than what we already have in the THOR recommendations, the JTS DCR clinical Practice Guideline and the Ranger Regiment TDCR? No hextend?! Calcium with the 1st unit of blood?! TXA slow push?! What if the patient is not responding to resuscitation efforts? This is a guideline truly written for the Medic working despite lack of help or resources in an austere environment…
Many efforts in the pre-hospital combat environment had been aimed at prolonging the viability of a patient until they are able to make it to a surgeon. The goal of military triage and evacuation is to have urgent surgical patients to a waiting surgical team within 2 hours. Despite our best efforts, this is not always possible. When it is not possible, Continue reading Podcast Episode 46: Bleeding in the Box: Non-Compressible Torso Hemorrhage with Dr. Mark Shapiro→
When properly and safely administered regional anesthesia can augment your limited supply of narcotics and ketamine in resource poor environments. It can also preserve your patient’s mental status while providing targeted pain relief. This can be accomplished using a nerve stimulator and the techniques found in the Military Advanced Regional Anesthesia and Analgesia Handbook as taught in the Special Forces Medical Sergeant course. If you have a portable ultrasound machine and a little practice you can also use the safe techniques found in the videos made available in by the New York School of Regional Anesthesia at NYSORA.com.
Which burn fluid resuscitation formula is best? Does it really matter?
What can happen if you over resuscitate? Under?
What can cause an increase or decrease in the demand of fluids?
What can you do if you are running out of Lactated Ringers?
As a Lt. Cmmdr. with the U.S. Navy, Dr. Cairns was on duty and a principle responder to the KAL flight that crashed in 1997 in Guam. Dr. Cairns was instrumental in developing the level of preparedness at the Naval Hospital there which received and managed dozens of critical patients in the morning following the crash of the 747.
Telemedicine is a crucial capability that must be planned and practiced. The base of knowledge that a SOF medic’s knowledge encompasses includes many areas of medicine but generally lacks
Rick Hines has spent the last 20+ years in service to his country much of it deployed to combat zones and other unstable, austere environments and is dedicated to improving SOF Medicine. He made it a point to spend a fair amount of time with surgical teams when possible and has gained quite a bit of real world knowledge that we hope to pass on to a wider audience here. Continue reading Podcast Episode 33: TIVA: Another Look at Pre-Hospital Analgesia and Sedation→
