Military medicine
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Advanced training for medics and corpsmen in the field would help prevent deaths and disabilities. Courses in Basic Trauma Life Support (BTLS) and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) can be used as a format for standardizing the approach to the injured patient. It can be integrated into the military setting along with the basic survival skills needed by the unit's medical provider.
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This article reviews the examination techniques and priorities for an injured patient. The format can be tailored to both the field setting and the hospital. Learning a concise method of examination and treatment is basic to trauma care and helps ensure that life-threatening injuries are not overlooked.
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The overriding concern in trauma care is not only to minimize mortality, but to maintain a functional human being. Treatment should first be directed to preserve the brain and the cardiopulmonary viscera.
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There is no current training or experience that can closely parallel operating in the combat theater. However, the use of a structured and systematic approach to patient care such as Advanced Trauma Life Support would have given those thrust into trauma care a format to build upon.