Page 10 - JSOM Winter 2018

Former Special Forces Medic to Receive skin cells, which greatly reduces the amount of skin that must
Medal of Honor for Valor in Afghanistan be taken from a burn patient who requires grafts, as well as
reducing recovery time and the requirement for opioids. For
Former Army SSG Ronald Shurer II re- more details, please go to the story reported by Maggie Fox
ceived the Medal of Honor from the at NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news
president at a 1 October 2018 ceremony /fda-approves-first-spray-skin-product-n911976
for his heroic actions during a 2008 op-
eration in Shok Valley, Afghanistan. On
6 April 2008, during his second deploy- Pizza!!
ment, Shurer put his life on the line to In what is described as a breakthrough for US troops, an MRE
save the lives of four Special Forces Sol- Sicilian pizza has been developed. Please read about a taste test
diers and 10 Afghan commandos.
with troops in Afghanistan at https://www.stripes.com/news
/what-does-the-pizza-mre-taste-like-troops-try-the-long
Please go to https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article -awaited-holy-grail-of-military-rations-1.546150
/1652402/former-green-beret-receives-medal-of-honor/ and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_J._Shurer to read more
about his actions.

Army Not Excited About Possibility of
Amputating Medical Research Arm
Scott Maucionec (@smaucioneWFED) reported on 4 Septem-
ber 2018 that Army Secretary Mark Esper said a new require-
ment in the 2019 defense authorization law, which calls on
the service to relinquish its Medical Research and Materiel
Command and merge it into the Defense Health Agency, does Measles
not excite him. “My concern with that provision is it might
not enable us to do what we need to do with readiness on the The World Health Organization reports that more than
battlefield and training,” Esper said, during a Defense Writers 41,000 children and adults in the WHO European Region
Group breakfast with reporters in Washington. “My prefer- have been infected with measles in the first 6 months of 2018.
ence would be to keep that, the medical research, because I “We are seeing a dramatic increase in infections and extended
want to be thinking about what I need on the future battle- outbreaks,” says Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Direc-
field. It’s a readiness issue for me.” tor for Europe. Seven countries in the region have seen more
than 1000 infections in children and adults this year (France,
Please read more at Georgia, Greece, Italy, the Russian Federation, Serbia, and
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/dod-personnel Ukraine).
-notebook/2018/09/army-not-excited-about-possibility
-of-amputating-medical-research-arm/ Two groups of people in the US military community are par-
ticularly vulnerable to measles infection: (1) family members
Help for Patients With Paralysis who were not subject to the US immunization schedule as
children, such as foreign-born spouses, and (2) children under
At least five people whose legs were completely paralyzed are 1 year old traveling to high-risk areas.
walking again, two of them with no outside help, thanks to
a specialized program of therapy and a pain stimulator im- Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL)
planted in their spines, researchers at the University of Lou-
isville in Kentucky reported to Maggie Fox of NBC News. From the Director of CALL: We are pleased to launch several
“The spinal cord can relearn to walk independently,’ said particularly timely and relevant products this month. First,
Susan Harkema, who leads the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury “The Army Combat Fitness Test Handbook” gives Soldiers
Research Center and who led the team that developed the new and leaders initial guidance for administering and training for
approach. the ACFT. Refinements are expected, as testing units provide
feedback, but this guide delivers what Soldiers need now to
For more information, please go to plan and train. Also, “The Commander’s Guide to Gunnery”
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/paralyzed and “Security Force Assistance Catalog” advance two of our
-patients-are-walking-again-help-pain-stimulator-n912541 priority efforts—products supporting large-scale combat op-
erations and security force assistance. Finally, I have directed
Spray-On Skin Product for Burn Patients my Director’s Action Group to deep dive into issues affect-
ing the warfighter. Their insights are captured in this month’s
ReCell, a spray-on skin product developed by Avita Medical, “DAG’R” white papers. I would welcome your thoughts on
is designed to treat burns with a slurry of the patient’s own these new products, as well as any feedback you have on our

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