July 19, 2016 – Military Model

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Anchor lead:  How much of the military’s advances can be applied to civilian medicine? Elizabeth Tracey reports

Almost all of trauma medicine relies on interventions developed on the battlefield, with a recently reported study identifying a number of strategies that could improve outcomes even more.  Kevin Gerold, a critical care medicine expert at Johns Hopkins, says the military is different than the civilian side in critical ways.

Gerold:  Very large organization, founded on standardization.  What they did is they made soldiers and the medical providers stakeholders in the outcome and they became a learning organization. They didn’t just turn to the science, tell us what to do. They asked people on the front lines, on the battlefield, what’s working, what’s not working, what don’t you have that you need that we can provide you, and I think that message is very valuable and I think that message needs to get to the civilian side.  :31

Gerold says some specific techniques, such as stopping bleeding, may also make it stateside.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.