Fundamental Inputs to (ADF Health) Capability: Overview
Introduction This paper—and the series to date and to follow—is based on conclusions reached in a previous series by the author regarding occupational and environmental medicine in the ADF.61,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 The previous series describes why high workplace illness and injury rates confirm the need to improve the management of hazards associated with ADF workplaces, with better […]
Georgian Naval Warfare, Ships and Medicine 1714–1815
Introduction Previous articles in this series describe the development of a cycle from prehistory to the end of the Elizabethan period, whereby increasing trade necessitated larger and more efficient ships to transport merchandise and better weapons to defend or attack them, thereby facilitating further trading opportunities. 1,2,3,4,5,6 However, it was not until the 18th century that […]
Fundamental Inputs to (ADF Health) Capability: Personnel
Introduction There has been a longstanding misperception within Defence, government and the general public that the ADF health services only need to provide treatment services. This notion fails to recognise the other two intrinsically linked ‘purposes’ (what would now be called ‘missions’) identified by Arthur Graham Butler in his seminal WWI medical history:1,2 enabling operational […]
Whose Side Are You On? Complexities Arising from the Non-Combatant Status of Military Medical Personnel
Originally published in Monash Bioethics Review, 2023 Jan 11. doi: 10.1007/s40592-022-00168-2 Abstract Since the mid-1800s, clergy, doctors, other clinicians, and military personnel who specifically facilitate their work have been designated “non-combatants”, protected from being targeted in return for providing care on the basis of clinical need alone. While permitted to use weapons to protect themselves […]
Fundamental Inputs to (ADF Health) Capability: Organisation
Introduction A previous series of papers have analysed the following functions and roles of military health services necessary to conduct their three elemental and distinct yet intrinsically interlinked missions: providing treatment services, enabling operational capability and facilitating civilian re-integration:1 ‘Military health support’, pending a better term indicating that, whether deployed or not, all ADF commanders […]
Body Regions Susceptible to Musculoskeletal Injuries in Canadian Armed Forces Pilots
Introduction Musculoskeletal injuries (MSKI) are a common problem for militaries around the globe.1,2 Countries of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America) spend millions of dollars on direct patient care in the treatment of MSKI. In 2017, Canada allocated nearly CA$200 million towards implementing strategies […]