Page 128 - JSOM Winter 2022

TABLE 1 Cont.
Injury Prevention Category
Preventable &
Preventable & Potentially
Not Potentially Potentially Preventable
Enough Unpreventable Preventable Preventable Preventable Injuries That
Total Information Injury Injury Injury Injuries* Led to Death
Characteristic N = 195 n = 36 n = 58 n = 64 n = 37 n = 101 n = 6
Intervention
Handler Training (No., %) 54 (28%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 17 (27%) 37 (100%) 54 (54%) 4 (67%)
Protective Equipment (No., %) 46 (23%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 46 (72%) 0 (0%) 46 (45%) 1 (17%)
Policy/Doctrine (No., %) 1 (1%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (2%) 0 (0%) 1 (1%) 1 (17%)
‖‖
Not Applicable (No., %) 94 (48%) 36 (100%) 58 (100%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
*Preventable and potentially preventable injuries are the preventable injuries and potentially preventable injuries combined.
† Age data were missing for two MWDs.
‡ Includes long— and short—haired Dutch Shepherds.
§ Other category includes one Springer Spaniel.
‖ Other category includes four combat tracker dogs, two mine detection dogs, and one patrol and drug detection dog.
¶ MWD was owned by a Special Operations Forces unit.
**CENTCOM is for injuries that occurred anywhere in US Central Command’s Area of Operations other than Iraq or Afghanistan.
†† Other category includes three events involving a burn, electrical, or chemical exposure.
‡‡ Other category includes three motor vehicle accidents, three crush/pinch injuries, two electrical injuries, and one fire injury.
§§ Injuries involving the abdomen were included in the category of two or more sites.
‖‖ Not applicable – potential interventions were not identified for injuries determined to be unpreventable or that did not have enough information.

TABLE 2 Mechanisms of Injury and Anatomical Locations of Injury by Interventions for Preventable and Potentially Preventable Injuries
(N = 100)*
Mechanism of Injury
Protective Equipment † Handler Training ‡
n = 46 n = 54
Gunshot Knife/Sharp Other/ Animal Gunshot Knife/Sharp Other/
Anatomical Location Explosion Wound Object Unknown § Bite Fall Wound Object Unknown §
Head/Neck (No., %) — — — — 16 (59%) — — 3 (27%) 1 (17%)
Ear (No., %) 6 (86%) — — — 2 (7%) — — 1 (9%) —
Thorax (No., %) 1 (14%) 2 (67%) 1 (3%) — 1 (4%) 2 (22%) — — 1 (17%)
Front Limb (No., %) — — 5 (16%) — 4 (15%) 5 (56%) — — —
Rear Limb/Tail (No., %) — — 2 (6%) — — 2 (22%) — 3 (27%) —
Paw (No., %) — — 24 (75%) 4 (100%) 2 (7%) — — 1 (9%) 1 (17%)
Unspecified Limb — — — — — — — 1 (9%) 1 (17%)
(No., %)
Two or More Sites ‖ — — — — — — — 1 (9%) 1 (17%)
(No., %)
Unknown (No., %) — 1 (33%) — — 2 (7%) — 1 (100%) 1 (9%) 1 (17%)
Total 7 3 32 4 27 9 1 11 6
*Change in policy/doctrine was selected for only one MWD and is not included here.
† No animal bites or falls were considered preventable by protective equipment.
‡ No explosions were considered preventable by handler training.
§ Other category includes three motor vehicle accidents, three crush/pinch injuries, two electrical injuries, and one fire injury.
‖ Injuries involving the abdomen were included in the category of two or more sites.
Percentages were rounded and may not total to 100.

often experience potentially preventable injuries and suggest preventable injuries for six MWDs, where protective equip-
that improved handler training and use of innovative protec- ment was selected to be an intervention for all these injuries. In
tive equipment could possibly help prevent traumatic injury in Servicemembers, earplugs have been proven to lower the over-
MWDs during deployment. pressure in the ear canal after a blast, significantly decreasing
the chance of tympanic membrane rupture and hearing loss.
19
Although a majority of MWD injury events were determined More research is needed to determine the effectiveness of
to be preventable or potentially preventable, there were some evolving protective equipment for hearing protection designed
injury events related to specific mechanisms of injury that for MWDs, but this novel protective equipment could reduce
were determined to be mostly unpreventable, namely ex- tympanic membrane injury and hearing loss in MWDs that
plosions and gunshot wounds. Among MWDs who experi- experience blast-related injuries. 20
enced an explosion-related injury, very few of those injuries
were determined to be either preventable or potentially pre- Similar to explosion-related injuries, very few gunshot wounds
ventable injuries. However, ruptured tympanic membranes were determined to be preventable or potentially preventable
from an explosion-related injury were deemed as potentially after considering availability and use of protective equipment.

126 | JSOM Volume 22, Edition 4 / Winter 2022