Page 40 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Fall 2015
P. 40

In 2013, C4 trainees broke the plastic handles on the   lesson plans, to training programs, and, ultimately, to
          JETT. Instructors sent their feedback to the company,   best care. The US Army’s medical master instructor has
          and the component was redesigned, with an improved   provided a template of a lesson plan for implementation
          version soon available in the marketplace. In 2014, in   of a new task to be taught to Medics or soldiers, and this
          Tajikistan, a C4 cadre broke the clip on the SJT acces-  is available in Appendix 1.
          sory strap, sent their feedback to the company, and the
          component was redesigned, with an improved version
          soon available in the marketplace. Also at C4, the mani-  Funding
          kins used were sometimes hard plastic and the tissues did   This project was funded with US Army Medical Research
          not compress like the softer silicon ones specifically built   and Materiel Command and the Defense Health Program
          for hemorrhage control interventions. The  compressors   (Proposal 201105: Operational system management and
          (i.e., discs, pads, targeting compression devices, or blad-  postmarket surveillance of hemorrhage control devices
          ders) in the hard, noncompressible manikins sometimes   used in medical care of US Servicemembers in the war
          slide more than they do over the softer, tackier silicon   in Afghanistan). The study was performed at USAISR.
          manikins, making JT application more difficult than on
          humans. The compressible manikins indent under the
          JT pressure, allowing the components to stay in place   Disclaimer
          better during training; these manikins have a more re-  The opinions or assertions contained herein are the pri-
          alistic feel.                                      vate views of the authors and are not to be construed
                                                             as official or reflecting the views of the Department of
          Dissemination of JT Technology                     Defense or US Government, the Norwegian Ministry of
          Medical leaders were unsure how to introduce new   Defence, the Norwegian Government, the Israeli Minis-
          medical devices into a war; they were unsure of approv-  try of Defense, or the Israeli Government. The authors
          als by regional commands, logistic distribution, training   are employees of the US Government or the Israeli Gov-
          needs, and management gaps. There was much com-    ernment. This work was prepared as part of their of-
          munication and discussion, but no healthcare delivered   ficial  duties  and,  as  such,  there  is  no copyright  to be
          to casualties in need. Having noted an acute capability   transferred.
          gap when deployed overseas, COL James Geracci of the
          Joint Theater Trauma System’s Prehospital Team coor-
          dinated with the US Army Medical Materiel Agency to   Disclosure
          have 200 SJTs and 200 JETTs shipped into theater for   The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
          immediate distribution and training of potential users,
          as directed by frontline medical personnel.
                                                             References
          The familiarization training is limited because the   1.  Eastridge BJ, Mabry RL, Seguin P, et al. Death on the battle-
          USAMEDDC&S doctrinaires have not made an enact-      field (2001–2011): implications for the future of combat casu-
          ment decision regarding JTs. Without such a decision,   alty care. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2012;73:S431–437.
          no sets, kits, or outfits (there are approximately 256   2.  Kragh JF Jr, Dubick MA, Aden JK 3rd, et al. U.S. military ex-
          such medical assemblages in the US Army) have any JT.   perience with junctional wounds in war from 2001 to 2010. J
                                                               Spec Oper Med. 2013;13:76–84.
          Absent enactment, no official service doctrine entails JT   3.  Kragh JF Jr, Parsons DL, Kotwal RS, et al. Testing of junctional
          use, and there is no servicewide issuing of JTs. Since the   tourniquets by military medics to control simulated groin hem-
          JTs are not used in the field but have stocking numbers   orrhage. J Spec Oper Med. 2014;14:58–63.
          and can be bought by individuals or organizations, JTs   4.  Tai NR, Dickson EJ. Military junctional trauma.  J R Army
                                                               Med Corps. 2009;155:285–292.
          are in a limbo status between not being issued and full   5.  Parker P; Limb Trauma Working Group. Consensus statement
          use in the field. In 2015, a decision process is ongoing in   on decision making in junctional trauma care. J R Army Med
          whether or not to issue JTs.                         Corps. 2011;157:S293–295.
                                                             6.  Samokhvalov IM, Pronchenko AA, Reva VA. [Application of
          Summary                                              the device for local compression of injured magistral arteries of
                                                               the extremities]. Voen Med Zh. 2012;333:39–44.
          Experience with JT training indicates that users can be   7.  Kotwal RS, Butler FK, Gross KR, et al. Management of junc-
          trained well if the instruction is of a sufficient quality.   tional hemorrhage in Tactical Combat Casualty Care: TCCC
          The depth of the experience of such training and train-  Guidelines? Proposed change 13-03. J Spec Oper Med. 2013;
          ers is currently shallow and the breadth of the collective   13:85–93.
          experience is broad; depth and breadth are increasing   8.  Kragh JF Jr, Murphy C, Dubick MA, et al. New tourniquet
          over time. People who wish to train with JTs, to train   device concepts for battlefield hemorrhage control. US Army
                                                               Med Dep J. 2011:38–48.
          others, or to make decisions about training, may find   9.  Lyon M, Shiver SA, Greenfield EM, et al. Use of a novel ab-
          the report of these experiences informative as a guide to   dominal aortic tourniquet to reduce or eliminate flow in the



          28                                        Journal of Special Operations Medicine  Volume 15, Edition 3/Fall 2015
   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45