Military medicine
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The purpose of the current investigation was to determine the prospective predictors of discharge in a population of individuals entering U. S. Air Force Basic Military Training (BMT). ⋯ Results suggest that women and ethnic minorities are not biased in favor of discharge and that both lifestyle and psychosocial variables are consistent predictors of discharge. Future research could potentially yield other significant predictors of success versus discharge in the U. S. military.
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Combat trauma differs from its peacetime counterpart by involving a different spectrum of injuries, occurring in austere environments, dealing with mass casualties, and embodying inherent treatment delays. Thus, civilian trauma practices may be inappropriate in certain combat settings. ⋯ The following recommendations are made. (1) Military antishock trousers are still useful in a combat setting. (2) Soft-tissue wound management should be directed by the wound rather than by the weapon. (3) Cautious avoidance of colostomy may be indicated in certain wartime colon wounds. (4) The majority of combat casualties require early vigorous fluid resuscitation. When civilian trauma experience challenges military dogma, it must be carefully considered before being applied to a combat setting.
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Biography Historical Article
New York-Tidewater Chapters' History of Military Medicine Award. The military odyssey of Norman Bethune.
While visiting the Peoples Republic of China in 1982, I became aware of the work of the Canadian, Norman Bethune, as a military surgeon. Bethune first served as a stretcher-bearer in an ambulance unit and later as a medical officer with the Allies during the First World War. He also participated in the Spanish Civil War as a military physician. ⋯ In the annals of Chinese military history, he has been given an honored place as a military surgeon and a martyr. He is also credited in China with improving the practice of battlefield medicine, as an organizer, teacher, and innovator. Bethune's fame in China is now spreading to Canada.