Dance of Life at Landstuhl

Here is some good news that is never reported. Thanks to the US military medicos:

The system has contributed to a lethality rate of about 9 percent in the ongoing Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, “the lowest rate of any war in history,” said Air Force Col. Doug Robb, command surgeon at the U.S. Central Command (Centcom), which is responsible for combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

By contrast, 30 percent of soldiers wounded in World War II died because of their combat wounds, and 24 percent of soldiers wounded in the Vietnam War died, Robb said at a recent Military Health System Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Deployed Warrior Medical Management Center (DWMMC) in Landstuhl, Germany, is responsible for managing patients from combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. Patient tracking and movement technology enables Col. John Sweeney, DWMMC’s director, and other Landstuhl employees to execute that mission “like a well choreographed ballet,” Sweeney said.

Technology has enabled the Air Force to transform workhorse C-17 cargo planes into flying intensive care units with heart monitors and respiratory ventilators like those found in hospital ICUs, said Air Force Col. Sharyn Roettger, commander of the 791st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. The unit operates from Ramstein Air Force Base, the air headquarters for medevac flights to Germany.

Hat tip: Steve.