Military medicine
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United States government global health engagements range from delivering aid, to medical skill certification, and building multilateral partnerships with key leaders. This article discusses three critical questions to consider when planning engagements during pandemics. By expanding virtual programming, and including SARS-CoV-2 mitigation measures with in-person events, we can enhance support to partner nations through medical engagements.
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While exposure to sulfur mustard (SM) is commonly associated with the production of vesicating dermal, ocular, and respiratory injuries, systemic damage to bone marrow and lymphatic tissue can decrease critical immune cell populations leading to higher susceptibility to life-threatening infection and septicemia. There are currently no approved medical countermeasures for SM-induced myelosuppression. An intravenous SM challenge model was developed in adult rats as a preliminary proof-of-principle platform to evaluate the efficacy of candidate immunostimulants. ⋯ The small animal model developed in this study replicates many key aspects of human SM exposures and should serve as a relevant, rapid, and cost-effective platform to screen candidate medical countermeasures for SM-induced hematologic toxicity.
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In response to the COVID pandemic, Uniformed Services University (USU) suspended clerkships. As the nation's military medical school, USU had to keep students safe while still preparing them to be military physicians. In this commentary, we, a group of USU students, explore what this experience taught us about military medicine.
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Observational Study
Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Injuries in New Zealand Army Recruits as Defined by Physical Therapy Service Presentations.
Army recruit injuries occurring during basic training can lead to high personal and organizational burdens potentially threatening deployment capability. Previous military surveillance describing recruit injury as defined by physical therapy presentations is limited to 1-year duration or includes only male infantry recruits or trained personnel. Research describing injury incidence and trends specific to New Zealand Army basic training recruits over a longer period will better inform future injury prevention programs. ⋯ Four years of injury surveillance using physical therapy presentations identified the lower limb, with the knee and below as the most commonly injured regions in New Zealand Army recruits. Injury prevention interventions for New Zealand Army recruits should aim to reduce lower limb injuries. Future research on injury surveillance would benefit from incorporating clear injury and severity definitions, established injury classification systems, and standardized incidence calculations.