• Andrew Hall, Janet Chenault, Cara Olsen, Sheila Medina, Neha Patel, Matthew Hanson, and Joseph Matthews.
• USCENTCOM Office of the Command Surgeon, MacDill AFB, FL 33621, USA.
• Mil Med. 2024 Aug 13.

IntroductionThe medical entry standards for the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) restrict individuals with various medical conditions from entering the deployed environment. The impact of this program is unknown.Materials And MethodsThe total number of army personnel deployed to USCENTCOM, the number of individuals with a medical entry waiver adjudicated by United States Army Central (USARCENT), and the evacuation number for each population were compared for calendar year 2023 (CY2023).ResultsA total estimated population of 20,519 U.S. Army personnel were deployed to USCENTCOM. A population of 1,918 received a medical entry waiver due to a disqualifying medical condition. The evacuation rate for the general population was 2.4% compared to the 1.4% evacuation rate of the population with a medical entry waiver (P = .0027).ConclusionThe medical entry standards, as written and adjudicated in 2023, resulted in a relatively reduced evacuation rate for individuals with otherwise prohibited medical conditions compared to the general deployed population.Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2024. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

6 keywords...

hide…