Medical Attrition of Battlefield Airmen Trainees
Abstract
The Air Education and Training Command (AETC), tasked to identify methods to provide preventive medicine oversight and reduce injury risk related to physical training of Battlefield Airmen trainees, requested the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine/Epidemiology Consult Service to identify types of injuries and illnesses that occurred in each course by week of training and location of training, to identify the injuries/illnesses to determine cost of treatment, to identify the training cost linked to injuries/illnesses (e.g., lost training days), and to provide recommendations for preventive medicine countermeasures. We queried the Technical Training Production Analysis (TTPA) section of the AETC Decision Support System (ADSS) for all training-related events from 1 January 2004 to 20 April 2010 and obtained medical encounter and cost data from the Military Health System Mart for all inpatient and outpatient military treatment facility care and all inpatient care rendered in a civilian hospital. There were 38 unique course identifiers in ADSS for Battlefield Airmen representing 7,953 different individuals. The attrition rate since 2004 for all courses combined was 51%. Medical-related training events accounted for 15% of all attrition. The highest rates were found for Special Operation Weathermen Selection [sic], Tactical Air Command and Control Apprentice, Pararescue Indoctrination, Tactical Air Control Party Apprentice, Pararescue Indoctrination Course (Enlisted), and Combat Control Apprentice. For most courses, the most frequent types of medical encounters were for either musculoskeletal diagnoses or respiratory illnesses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA530133
Entities
People
- Brett R. Nishikawa
- Gen M. Maupin
- Paul A. Sjoberg
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory