Military Medicine in Contemporary Armed Conflict

Abstract

In the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (2001 and ongoing), military medicine saved more wounded than in any previous conflict. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) injured tens of thousands of the more than three million warfighters deployed. Prominent wounds included multisystem injuries, traumatic brain injuries, limb loss, and post-traumatic stress (PTSD). To care for wounded service personnel, multinational forces established in-theater facilities for lightly and moderately wounded, while evacuating the critically injured to Europe and the United States. Coalition facilities could not offer comprehensive medical attention to host-nation allies or civilians. As the fighting progressed, multinational forces teamed up with local government agencies to slowly rebuild local medical infrastructures through Medical Civic Action Programs (MEDCAP) and Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT). As the conflicts wind down, Coalition nations face their responsibility to rebuild each country and to tend discharged veterans at home. Both tasks prove daunting.