Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps
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This descriptive paper focuses on the sequence of events that occur during the admission and ongoing management of the Military Polytrauma patient to Critical Care, Area B, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB). It is intended to inform new clinical staff, the wider DMS, and potentially other NHS intensive care units which may be called upon to manage such patients during a military surge or following a U. K. domestic major incident.
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The early development of the U. K. Role 4 pain service has already been described. This article will describe developments up to October 2010, and present the results of projects used in assessing the effect of this service.
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As epidurals are now used for pain relief on deployment a survey was conducted to look at the current epidural practice of U.K. military anaesthetists. The aim was to identify any potential issues with regard to equipment and training to allow future development ofpre-deployment training. ⋯ The results of this survey show that whilst epidurals are commonly carried out amongst military anaesthetists during their U.K. practice, there is significant variation within the practice. Areas have been identified for development of educational courses, for example methods of securing epidurals, and these have already been acted upon.
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This paper briefly touches on the problem of dealing with the severely injured child requiring massive transfusion and produces a guide on the management of this based on the current Surgeon General's Operational Policy Letter. There are no known UK guidelines on massive transfusion in trauma in the paediatric population although many specialist centres have guidance for dealing with cases in theatre during elective surgery. It is hoped that these guidelines will be used by deployed military anaesthetists to aid in their management of these difficult cases, not normally seen in the U. K.
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Swimming-Induced Pulmonary Oedema (SIPE) has been described in military combat swimmers in both the US and Israeli Navies. The pathophysiology is explained by the immersion in cold water, and its effects on central vascular volume. SIPE has been hypothesized to be caused by pulmonary capillary stress failure (PCSF) due to elevations in pulmonary capillary transmural pressure. ⋯ The treatment of choice is to recognize the symptoms, get the patient out of the water and follow with close observation for emergent problems. Soldiers prone to acquire SIPE should be identified as this medical condition has a high degree of recurrence. The awareness of the symptoms of SIPE will increase appropriate diagnosis and therefore inform treatment.