Page 3 - 2022 Spring JSOM

from the

PUBLISHER
Michelle DuGuay Landers, BSN, MBA, RN
Lt Col (Ret)

Greetings JSOM Subscribers, After further discussions with both CENTCOM/SG and the
authors, we realize that the authors did, indeed, follow all
Welcome to 2022! protocols in place for the clearance approval to submit their
manuscript for publication. CENTCOM ascertained that the
As we enter the new year, the full impact of the global pan- authors should have gotten CENTCOM command and PAO
demic and associated lockdowns is still becoming apparent. approval as the article mentions the CENTCOM AOR. How-
All of us have felt the effects in one form or another. We have ever, the only approval requirements in place were the authors’
Michelle D. Landers, Lt Col (Ret) local chain of command. CENTCOM/SG is reviewing their
seen product shortages and bare spots on the shelves at the
supermarket. Prices at the register have gone up. Businesses policies regarding the submission of future works to any aca-
are doing the best they can with the employees they still have, demic or professional publication.
which impacts the ability to deliver quality goods and services
on time. As an academic journal, our concern rests with the academic
rigor of the study, the utility of the information to the com-
As a lagging industry, publishers and printers are now feeling munity, and the accuracy of the results. The manuscript was
the full impact, both up- and downstream. Take our printers, reviewed by our editorial board and deemed worthy of pub-
for example. When our printers can secure paper, delivery time lication in the Journal based on those criteria. The article
to the printer has nearly doubled, and the cost has risen as much should not have been pulled from the online publication, even
as 40%, both unprecedented jumps. Once we have printed the temporarily, and the Journal regrets the decision to do so. We
journals and handbooks, we experience significantly longer also regret the overall failure in communication and the as-
delivery times due to manning shortages with the Post Office. sumption that the authors had already been made aware of
We are taking aggressive measures to ensure that the JSOM CENTCOM’s opposition, which remains unchanged.
maintains the highest quality standards at the most affordable
price. One of the measures we have adopted is offering our Special Operations Medical Association
SOMA members the option to select the Digital Only version Tourniquet Conversion Webinar
of the journal. Those members choosing this option will be
able to access our entire repository of previously published 16 September 2021
journals and articles. Additionally, digital subscribers will be SOMA recently hosted a tourniquet conversion: starting the
able to download the PDF copy of the journal to their mobile conversation, a 1-hour Zoom webinar led by Dr Mike Shertz,
devices. Of course, if the hard copy of the journal is preferred, emergency physician, EMS medical director, and prior Spe-
that option is still available. cial Forces medic. Also, SGT Samuel Fredrickson, ATP, and
CPT Kaoru Song, MD, were panelists representing end-users
of the tourniquet conversion task as recently modified in the
New to JSOM – Ahead of Print
75 Ranger Regiment. The last panelist was our very own
th
The JSOM has continued to grow over the past many years, Senior Editor of the JSOM, Dr John Kragh, a subject matter
and as a result we are seeing articles taking longer to get expert at the US Army Institute of Surgical Research. Please
published as the print edition is constrained to a set size. We see our News to Use section for details on this well-attended
have brainstormed over how best to fix this problem and get webinar.
our articles available sooner. We decided to digitally publish
ahead of print (AoP). The articles will be submitted as such to
PubMed as soon as they are approved for publication by our SOMA Past President to Receive the
medical editor. You can find them on the subscriber portion Distinguished Service Cross
of our website. Congratulations to SOMA Past President
(2013–2015) COL (Ret) Robert L. Mabry,
CORRECTION MD, MBA, who is one of four Soldiers in-
In Spring 2021, the Journal of Special Operations Medicine volved in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu who
(JSOM) published “Making Use of Your Assets: Clinical Use will be receiving the Distinguished Service
of EOD Radiography in the Forward Deployed Setting” by Cross this year. Retired COL Robert Mabry
MAJ Caitlin Howard, CPT Shawn Veach, Lt Col Regan Lyon, was an enlisted Delta Force medic during the battle. He later
and MAJ K. Aaron Shaw. Based on CENTCOM sending out a became a medical doctor and played a key role in the US mili-
Night Order telling units to cease human use of these devices tary’s adoption of the emergency tourniquet as a standard part
and CENTCOM’s assertion that the authors did not obtain of medical care on the battlefield. He served as command sur-
pre-publication command and public affairs officer (PAO) geon for Joint Special Operations Command.
approval, the JSOM pulled the digital version of the article
pending further review. See the full article from the Army Times.

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