Page 119 - JSOM Spring 2023

An Ongoing Series

Review of the Paris Special Operations Forces—
Combat Medical Care Conference, Fall 2022

Pierre Pasquier ; Florent Josse ; Pierre Mahé 3
1
2

Introduction
For the first time in Europe, the Paris Special Operations FIGURE 1 École du Val-de-Grâce, French Military Medical Academy.
Forces—Combat Medical Care (SOF—CMC) Conference, a
satellite conference of the CMC-Conference in Ulm, Germany,
took place on October 20–21, 2022, at the famous École du
Val-de-Grâce in Paris, France, a historic and emblematic site
for French military medicine (Figure 1). The Paris SOF–CMC
Conference was organized by the French SOF Medical Com-
mand and the CMC Conference. Under the authority of COL
Dr Pierre Mahé (French SOF Medical Command), the two sci-
entific leaders of the conference (Figure 2), COL Prof. Pierre
Pasquier (France) and LTC Dr Florent Josse (Germany), ad-
vanced a high scientific level around medical support in the
field of Special Operations. This international symposium was
dedicated to military physicians and paramedics as well as
trauma and specialized surgeons involved in the medical sup-
port of Special Operations. International medical experts pro-
vided updates on current scientific data. They also presented
the points of view of their respective nations on the evolution
of war medicine during very high-level scientific sessions. The
conference brought together nearly 300 participants (Figure 3), FIGURE 2 Scientific leaders of the conference.
speakers, and industrial partners from more than 30 countries
(Figure 4). This new Paris SOF—CMC Conference will be held
every 2 years alternately with the CMC Conference in Ulm.

Opening Lectures

The military authorities from the French SOF Medical Com-
mand, the SOF command, the École du Val-de-Grâce, and the
scientific leaders of the conference welcomed all speakers and
attendees, described the history of Special Operations’ medical
support, including its challenges in modern warfare, and dis-
cussed its changes in future conflicts.

First Session
This first session, “Other Bricks in the Wall of SOF Medical
Support,” launched the conference with “Initial Medical Re-
sponse to Massive Casualty Incidents in the SOF Environ- States) (Figure 5), then “Prehospital Blood Transfusion in Aus-
ment” (presented by Stacy Shackelford, Chief Joint Trauma tere Setting: From Proof of Concept to Fine Tuning” (pre-
2
1
System Defense Center of Excellence for Trauma, the United sented by Sylvain Ausset, Head of French Military Health
1 Dr Pasquier is affiliated with the French special operations forces medical command, Villacoublay, France, the department of anesthesiology and
intensive care, Percy military teaching hospital, Clamart, France, and the École du Val-de-Grâce, French military medical Academy, Paris, France.
2 Dr Josse is affiliated with the Ulm Military hospital, Ulm, Germany, and the Combat Medical Care–Conference Scientific Board, Ulm, Germany.
3 Dr Mahé is affiliated with the French special operations forces medical command, Villacoublay, France.

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