High-dose ketamine infusion for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in combat veterans.

Introduction: Combat veterans are at high risk for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders. Ketamine has been shown to be an effective treatment for numerous mental health disorders, although research on its efficacy in combat-related PTSD in veterans is very limited.

Methods: The study population consisted of 30 US military veterans with combat-related PTSD.

Pilot study to determine the feasibility of training Army National Guard medics to perform focused cardiac ultrasonography.

Objective: To assess the ability of Army National Guard combat medics to perform a limited bedside echocardiography (BE) to determine cardiac activity after a brief training module.

Methods: Twelve Army National Guard health care specialists trained to the level of emergency medical technician-basic (EMT-B) underwent an educational session consisting of a 5-minute lecture on BE followed by hands-on practical training. After the training session, each medic performed BEs, in either the subxiphoid (SX) or parasternal (PS) location at his or her discretion, on four healthy volunteers.

Blast injuries.

Health-care providers are increasingly faced with the possibility of needing to care for people injured in explosions, but can often, however, feel undertrained for the unique aspects of the patient's presentation and management. Although most blast-related injuries (eg, fragmentation injuries from improvised explosive devices and standard military explosives) can be managed in a similar manner to typical penetrating or blunt traumatic injuries, injuries caused by the blast pressure wave itself cannot. The blast pressure wave exerts forces mainly at air-tissue interfaces within the body, and the pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and auditory systems are at greatest risk.

Task force St. Bernard: operational issues and medical management of a National Guard disaster response operation.

After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on 29 August 2005, it became obvious that the country was facing an enormous national emergency. With local resources overwhelmed, governors across the US responded by deploying thousands of National Guard soldiers and airmen. The National Guard has responded to domestic disasters due to natural hazards since its inception, but an event with the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina was unprecedented.

Surge capacity: a proposed conceptual framework.

There is a need for emergency planners to accurately plan for and accommodate a potentially significant increase in patient volume in response to a disaster. In addition, an equally large political demand exists for leaders in government and the healthcare sector to develop these capabilities in a financially feasible and evidence-based manner. However, it is important to begin with a clear understanding of this concept on a theoretical level to create this capacity.