The overall case fatality rate and the percentage of soldiers killed in action were reduced after implementation of a 1-hour transport time limit to definitive care for critically injured soldiers.
Transport time to hospital-based care affects survival after traumatic battlefield wounds. In 2009, the U.S. military mandated a 60-minute time limit from initial call to hospital arrival facilitated by rapid helicopter transport. The previous metric was 120 minutes. Compliance and effectiveness of this new measure during modern wartime conflicts is unknown.
To assess the effect of the new mandate, investigators performed a retrospective before and after analysis of 21,089 U.S. military combat casualties in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Prehospital flight data were matched with trauma registry data and autopsy reports.
The overall case fatality rate decreased significantly from 14% before the mandate to 8% after, and the percentage killed in…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresConsultant / Advisory boardVerathon, Inc. (Scientific Advisory Board Member)
Editorial boardsScientific American Emergency Medicine; Manual of Emergency Airway Management (Editor-in-Chief)
Leadership positions in professional societiesPrograms Subcommittee Chair for the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine–Residency and Fellowship Fair
DisclosuresConsultant / Advisory boardVerathon, Inc. (Scientific Advisory Board Member)
Editorial boardsScientific American Emergency Medicine; Manual of Emergency Airway Management (Editor-in-Chief)
Leadership positions in professional societiesPrograms Subcommittee Chair for the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine–Residency and Fellowship Fair