Strategies for ventilation in acute, severe lung injury after combat trauma.

Post-traumatic Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) continues to be a major critical care challenge with a high associated mortality and extensive morbidity for those who survive. This paper explores the evolution in recognition and management of this condition and makes some recommendations for treatment of post-combat ARDS for military practitioners. It is aimed at the generalist in disciplines other than critical care, but will also be of interest to intensivists.

Routine deworming of children at deployed military healthcare facilities.

The World Health Organization advocates mass antihelminthic treatment of school-age children in areas of high prevalence of soil-transmitted helminths. Soil-transmitted helminths prevalence in Afghanistan is 20-50%, but a high proportion of children do not attend school, so may be missed by deworming programs. The primary function of military medical assets in a theater of war is to provide life, limb and eyesight saving treatment.

Medical evacuation and triage of combat casualties in Helmand Province, Afghanistan: October 2010-April 2011.

Medical evacuation of combat casualties in Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan is achieved primarily by helicopter, because of distances involved as well as ground-based threats. In Helmand Province, evacuation from the point of injury may occur on a variety of helicopter evacuation platforms with disparate levels of attendant medical expertise. Furthermore, triage to a medical treatment facility may involve varying echelons of care before definitive management.

Paediatric admissions to the British military hospital at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.

Introduction: International humanitarian law requires emergency medical support for both military personnel and civilians, including children. Here we present a detailed review of paediatric admissions with the pattern of injury and the resources they consume.

Methods: All paediatric admissions to the hospital at Camp Bastion between 1 January and 29 April 2011 were analysed prospectively.