Page 10 - JSOM Spring 2026

FEATURE ARTICLES tightening-system rotation were lower, and completion of
Perceived Performance Traits of Blood Warming Devices tightening-system use after first completion was faster with
Among Special Warfare Medics: Williams and colleagues sur- the X8T-T2G system.
veyed a convenience sample of 35 Naval
Special Warfare Corpsmen about the The STEP Method: A Structured Approach to Optimize Team
perceived usability of five blood warmer Performance of Army Forward Resuscitative Surgical De-
devices: the QinFlow, M Warmer, Buddy tachments (FRSDs): With the aim of optimizing performance
Lite, Thermal Angel, and the North within the U.S. Army Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detach-
American Rescue (NAR) Quantum. The ment (FRSD), Bongartz and colleagues designed a theoretical
M Warmer received the highest overall framework based on literature and interdisciplinary expert
scores in all three domains evaluated— input. The STEP method combines Skill, Team organization,
ease of use, device ruggedness, and Equipment, and Process in its standardized approach to high-
perceived device efficacy—as well as stress, high-stakes environments. The authors contend that
positive qualitative feedback. The authors conclude that these this method introduces a standardized approach to trauma
strong findings underscore the importance of integrating end- resuscitation by Army FRSDs, offering a replicable SOP tem-
user feedback into medical equipment acquisition. plate with broad applicability across Army medical units.
First Island Chain Experiences Using Team Awareness Kit Relationship Between Age and Performance of Police Tactical
(TAK) for Medical Communications: Brust and colleagues de- Group Candidates and Officers Completing an Occupationally
scribe two examples of Team Awareness Kit (TAK) use from Relevant Specialist Police Physical Assessment: Using retro-
exercises with III Marine Expeditionary Force in the Indo- spective data from 34 male Police Tactical Group (PTG) officers
Pacific. In these scenarios, TAK—a software that can be used completing the RUSH assessment, Irving and colleagues inves-
in the field to see maps, share locations, and maintain situa- tigated the relationship between officer age and completion
tional awareness—proved to be a low-cost, effective tool for times for an occupationally relevant physical fitness assessment
medical command and control, and should be further consid- in specialist police officers. The researchers found that age was
ered for adoption across Joint and Partner Forces. not a significant predictor of RUSH times and that ongoing
physical strength and conditioning practices undertaken by
PTG officers may mitigate age-related fitness loss.
AI-Assisted Lung Sliding Detection in Point-of-Care Ultra-
sound by Marine Corps Corpsmen: A Multi-Reader Study:
In this pilot-prospective multi-reader, multi-case study, Côté
and colleagues evaluated whether AI-based decision support
could improve the diagnostic accuracy and confidence of U.S.
Marine Corps Corpsmen in identifying absent lung sliding.
Five military medics, all novices in point-of-care ultrasound,
each interpreted 50 de-identified lung ultrasound video clips
twice, once without AI assistance and once with AI assistance,
in randomized order with at least a 2-hour washout between
An example of the common operating picture that can be displayed
across all TAK devices within an area of operations. sessions. The researchers found that AI assistance significantly
improved diagnostic performance across all measured out-
Combat-Related Orthopedic Trauma in the Russo-Ukrainian comes, suggesting that real-time AI-based decision support
War: A Systematic Review: In their systematic review of 31 may help improve access to high-quality lung ultrasound in
studies, Garcia-Cañas and Navarro-Suay characterize combat- military and other resource-limited care settings.
related orthopedic trauma in the Russo-Ukrainian War. They
found that explosive and ballistic trauma produced high- Convergent Validity and Test-Retest Reliability of the Blast
energy fractures, traumatic amputations, severe soft-tissue loss, Exposure Threshold Survey Among Army Special Operations
and neurovascular damage. The authors conclude that the inju- Forces: Shumski and colleagues evaluated the convergent va-
ries encountered in this setting require advanced surgical tech- lidity of the Generalized Blast Exposure Value (GBEV) and
niques, coordinated multidisciplinary support, and prolonged assessed the test–retest reliability of both the GBEV and the
rehabilitation. Blast Exposure Threshold Survey (BETS) at the individual item
level in a cohort of Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF)
Lab Evaluation of X8T-T2G Tourniquet: Wall and colleagues trainers and trainees (n=41). They found that that the GBEV
evaluated pressures and tightening-system use of 3.8cm- demonstrated moderate test–retest reliability, that reliability
wide, self-securing-strap/redirect-and-tightening-system X8T- for individual weapon categories ranged from poor to mod-
T2G tourniquets (X8Ts) in 40 recipients. They found that erate, and that item-level test–retest reliability within each
X8Ts were arterially occlusive with simple, self-securing, section ranged from poor to excellent. The authors therefore
tightening-system advances. Compared with windlass-rod conclude that caution should be used when interpreting BETS
systems, first completion and pre-release pressures and total results, especially in populations experiencing excessive blast

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