Schauer SG, Naylor JF, Ahmed YM, Maddry JK, April MD. 20(3). 76 - 80. (Journal Article)
Abstract
Background: The United States (US) military utilizes combat wound medication packs (CWMP) to provide analgesia and wound prophylaxis in casualties who are still able to fight. We compared characteristics of combat casualties receiving CWMP to those not receiving CWMP. We also describe the proportions of casualties with injury patterns consistent with Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) guideline indications for CWMP use who received this intervention. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of Department of a Defense Trauma Registry (DODTR) dataset of US military personnel from January 2007 to August 2016. We searched for all subjects with documented use of at least one medication from the CWMP (acetaminophen, meloxicam, moxifloxacin). Results: Within our dataset, 11,665 casualties were US military Servicemembers. Overall, <1% (84) of our study population received the CWMP. The median age and mechanism of injuries were similar between CWMP nonrecipients versus recipients. Median composite injury scores were higher for nonrecipients than recipients (6 versus 4, P < .001). Proportions of casualties with injury patterns meeting TCCC guideline CWMP indications who received this intervention were low: gunshot wound, <1% (14 of 1805), tourniquet applied, <1% (11 of 1912), major amputation, <1% (5 of 803), and open fracture, <1% (10 of 2425). Based on serious injuries by body region, we had similar findings for the thorax (<1%; 3 of 1122), abdomen (<1%; 1 of 736), and extremities (<1%; 11 of 2699). Conclusions: Subjects receiving the CWMP were less severely injured compared to those who did not receive this intervention. The CWMP had very infrequent use among those casualties with injury patterns meeting indications specified in the TCCC Guidelines for use of this intervention.
Keywords: combat; pill; pack; military; pain; antibiotics
Alexander DW. 20(3). 109 - 112. (Journal Article)
Abstract
The SOCOM Spiritual Fitness Scale (SSFS) enables religious support teams and other spiritual fitness/performance (SF/SP) stakeholders in the Special Operations Forces community to reliably measure both "horizontal" and "vertical" dimensions of spirituality, as defined by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction on SF. The SSFS's three subscales relate to core attributes of SF/SP, which were identified through factor analysis during the iterations of the tool's development. The SSFS is capable of generating baseline assessments for research related to SF/SP. It is also capable of generating unique SF/SP profiles for individuals and groups, which can shape programs and inform tailored coaching for optimized performance.
Keywords: spirituality; spiritual metric; spiritual fitness; human performance optimization; total force fitness