Page 151 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Spring 2015

improving combat trauma care is behind us. Re­ Despite this published success, this procedure is not
maining challenges for the future include small being widely used in the DoD at present.
military groups widely dispersed over large geo­
graphic areas, few medical treatment facilities, and 24. Dr Butler reviewed the previous CoTCCC­recom­
long evacuation times. TCCC in this setting may mended battlefield trauma care research, develop­
transition to Prolonged Field Care. He emphasized ment, test, and evaluation priorities from 2012
the need to achieve constant medical readiness as and solicited input for new items to add to the list.
opposed to “just in time” training and to convince An updated ranking of these projects will proceed
physicians and line combat leaders of the need to after the meeting via teleconference and/or email
train both their medics as well as all unit members communications.
in TCCC.
Acknowledgments
23. COL Sean Mulvaney from Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center discussed his recent Mili- The authors gratefully acknowledge the ongoing efforts
tary Medicine paper describing the use of stellate of all of the members of the TCCC Working Group to
ganglion block to treat PTSD. In a series of 166 improve the battlefield trauma care provided to our
patients from a military population with multiple countries’ combat wounded.
combat deployments who were treated with SGB,
over 70% had a clinically significant improvement Disclaimers
which persisted beyond 3 to 6 months postproce­
dure. Selective blockade of the right cervical sym­ The opinions or assertions contained herein are the pri­
pathetic chain at the C6 level was found to be a vate views of the authors and are not to be construed as
safe, effective, and minimally invasive procedure official or as reflecting the views of the Department of
with which to treat patients suffering from PTSD. the Army or the Department of Defense.

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