The attack rate of H1N1 in various berthing configurations on board an aircraft carrier.

Objective: We compared attack rates for novel H1N1 influenza A (H1N1) among various groups aboard an aircraft carrier as influenced by characteristics of their living arrangements.

Methods: During an outbreak of H1N1 on board the USS George Washington (GW), group affiliation (department or squadron membership) data were obtained on all patients who were placed in respiratory isolation based on their diagnosis with presumptive H1N1. Because berthing spaces are assigned by department and various characteristics of each department's berthing spaces are known, analysis of attack rates in comparison to these characteristics was possible.

Two aircraft carriers’ perspectives: a comparative of control measures in shipboard H1N1 outbreaks.

Background: The USS George Washington (GW) and the USS Ronald Reagan (RR), 2 US Navy aircraft carriers, experienced almost simultaneous outbreaks of novel H1N1 influenza A in the summer of 2009. We compared the respective epidemic control measures taken and subsequent lessons learned.

Methods: Data were collated from both outbreaks to assess various elements including attack rate, isolation/quarantine protocols, and treatment methods.

Battlefield anesthesia: advances in patient care and pain management.

Expeditionary maneuver warfare and the asymmetric battlefield have forced changes in the traditional methods with which we deliver anesthesia and surgery to the wounded. Although in many ways similar to how we have operated on the wounded for the past half century, new advances in diagnostic and therapeutic modalities and doctrinal shifts have changed the face of the battlefield hospital. In this article, the authors discuss these changes in regard to anesthetic care for surgical and pain management for wounded airmen, sailors, soldiers, and marines.