Military medicine
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Throughout history, underground systems have served military purposes in both offensive and defensive tactical settings. With the advance of underground mining, combat tactics, and weapon systems, providing medical support in the subterranean battlefield is a constantly growing challenge. This retrospective cohort study describes the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Medical Corps experience with treating casualties from underground warfare, as recorded in the IDF Trauma Registry. ⋯ To plan and provide medical support, a thorough understanding of operational planning is essential. This manuscript presents the evolution of underground warfare, tactical and medical implications, environmental hazards, and common casualty care challenges.
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Recent advancements in virtual environment (VE) technology and the increasing use of VEs for treatment are opening up possibilities for rehearsal in safe and rich environments. Research has shown that VEs can be used to treat individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but little research has been done to suggest guidelines for creating an effective environment. The aim of this study was to determine the design of systems that would allow military veterans to rehearse potentially stressful events in a VE before having to step into the actual environment. This research evaluated the responses to six stimuli: startle sound, direct eye contact, horizontal movement across the visual field, social conflict, an abandoned item, and a crowded auditorium. Measures used included change in heart rate (ΔHR), change in subjective unit of discomfort scores, and participant behavior. ⋯ Findings imply that VEs other than virtual combat zones can elicit behavioral, emotional, and physiological responses in individuals with PTSD, and these types of environments should be further studied for use with veterans suffering from PTSD. In future studies, systems should include initial stimuli that can be configured to allow focus on specific past traumatic experiences. Stimuli should also include both a crowded room and a startle noise scenario.
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Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is a growing public health concern in the USA and globally because of the emergence of lifestyle preferences and environmental exposures to sound levels exceeding safe listening limits for extended periods of time. In the military, hearing and communication are important for survival and the Department of Defense's Hearing Center of Excellence highlights the importance of protection from NIHL. Issuance of the World health organization safe audio listening standards along with existing U.S. federal and military standards provides a framework for developing an accessible tool for promoting safe listening. ⋯ The overall goals of the App are to increase NIHL awareness and to empower users to improve personal listening behaviors that can potentially reduce the risk of NIHL.
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It is important to determine the local forces and moments across the entire cervical spine as dysfunctions such as spondylosis and acceleration-induced injuries are focused on specific levels/segments. The aims of the study were to determine the axial and shear forces and moments at each level under G-x accelerative loading for female and male spines. ⋯ All metrics reached their peaks earlier in female than male spines, representing a quicker loading in the female spine. Peak magnitudes were also lower in the female spines. Moments and axial forces varied differently compared to the shear forces in the female spine, suggesting that intersegmental loads vary nonuniformly. Effects of head inertia contributed to the greatest increase in axial force under this impact acceleration vector. Because female spines have a lower biomechanical tolerance to injury, female spines may be more vulnerable to injury under this load vector.
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Neck pain among rotary-wing aviators has been established as an important issue in the military community, yet no U.S. Army regulation defines exactly what cervical spine range of motion (CROM) is adequate for flight. This lack of regulation leaves flight surgeons to subjectively determine whether an aviator affected by limited CROM is fit to maintain flight status. The U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory is conducting a study among AH-64 and UH-60 pilots to define CROM requirements in simulated and actual flight using optical head tracking equipment. Presented here is a preliminary analysis of head position data from a pilot and co-pilot in two AH-64 missions. ⋯ This investigation provides a proof of concept for analysis of head tracking data from MDR files as a surrogate measure of neck posture in order to estimate CROM requirements in rotary-wing military flight missions. Future studies will analyze differences in day and night flights, pilot versus co-pilot CROM, and neck movement frequency.