The Evolution of Military Trauma and Critical Care Medicine: Applications for Civilian Medical Care Systems
Abstract
Ibn Sina Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, has been occupied by American combat support hospital staff since 2003. The facility is named after the Persian physician, Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina, who lived between 900 and 1037 A.D. He is credited with writing one of the world s most important medical texts, the al- Qanun, which described all known diseases, including both physical and mental, methods of treatment, and over 760 medications. This text remained the medical guide to Western medicine through the 18th century. Ibn Sina, considered one of the fathers of early modern medicine, has also been attributed with beginning systematic experimentation and evidence- based medicine. Like great leaders in medicine such as Ibn Sina, war and conflict have also been credited with advances in medical and surgical therapy throughout the centuries. Like in previous conflicts, many authors note that innovations in trauma and critical care evolving from the current global war on terrorism may significantly impact civilian trauma care, critical care, and disaster medicine. War likely contributes to medical advances because it causes an eruption of necessity. Age-old problems such as hemorrhage, infection, and organ dysfunction after injury are magnified during war. Medical challenges include the need to provide high-level care in the most austere of settings as well as the urgency and impetus to develop creative and innovative approaches to these and new problems. The hope is that our lessons learned during conflict and our resultant innovations will, in fact, translate into lives saved and improvements realized now and in the future for all of mankind. Because the challenges faced in war and conflict parallel, many of those that can be anticipated during large-scale environmental and terrorist disasters, these lessons learned will also hopefully prepare us to better deal with these problems as well.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA618718
Entities
People
- Donald H. Jenkins
- Kurt W. Grathwohl
- Lorne H Blackbourne
- Steven G. Venticinque
Organizations
- United States Army Institute of Surgical Research