Guest Editorial – Major General Professor TJ Hodgetts
Major General Professor TJ Hodgetts CB CBE KHS DSc PhD MMEd MBA Chair, Committee of Chiefs of Military Medical Services NATO Headquarters, Boulevard Leopold III, Brussels, Belgium Common Military Medicine Challenges in an Increasingly Unstable World The 45th International Congress on Military Medicine (ICMM) was hosted in Brisbane, Australia, from 16 to 20 September 2024. […]
Military Medical Student Experiences during a Prolonged Casualty Care Simulation
Introduction Prolonged Casualty Care (PCC) (previously prolonged field care [PFC]) refers to patient care over a prolonged time in an austere environment where evacuation is not possible.1, 2 Prolonged Casualty Care education is driven by the United States Military Joint Trauma System’s Prolonged Casualty Care (PCC) guidelines, which are a ‘consolidated list of casualty-centric knowledge, […]
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 […]
Treatment at Point of Injury Through the Lens of Capability
Over the last two decades, Australia’s asymmetric wars have been characterised by coalition air superiority, unrestricted communications, rapid evacuation, relatively infrequent casualties and well-resourced, readily defended hospitals. In contrast, future peer-on-peer conflicts will likely feature high casualty rates, limited air evacuation, constrained communications, smaller and less targetable health facilities, and strained resources and lines of […]
Dual Loyalty and the medical profession for Australian Defence Force Medical Officers
Abstract Background: Military medical officers often practice in the context of dual loyalty and manage professional obligations to both their patients and the militaries in which they serve. Purpose: This article considers specific frameworks through which Australian Defence Force (ADF) Medical Officers practice. It seeks to highlight the potential interaction between such frameworks and dual […]
Cultivating Family Resiliency in the Context of the Military to Civilian Transition and Mental Health Problems
Introduction Relinquishing military employment has the potential to be a life transition laden with emotional, financial, relational and physical stressors for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) families.1-2 This article explores how intimate partners of CAF veterans who have operational service in Atlantic Canada and live with a mental health problem cultivate family resiliency during the military […]
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy/Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome in Military Personnel
Introduction Australian Defence Force (ADF) service members’ occupational history, consisting of repeated minor traumatic brain injury (TBI) with accompanying cognitive, behavioural, mood and movement disorders, are cardinal symptoms suggestive of the diagnosis of traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In 2015, Beran1 published an opinion piece alerting the medical and legal profession that […]
Changes in Patient Profile and Neurosurgical Procedures in a Large Military Hospital in Colombia Before and After the Peace Process: A Retrospective Analysis of Clinical Records
Abstract Aim: Colombia concluded a peace agreement with its largest guerrilla group (known as FARC) in 2016. The study aimed to compare neurosurgical procedures performed at the largest national military hospital during a two-year period at the height of the armed conflict (2003–2004) with a similar period around the official signing of the agreement (2015–2017). […]
Australian Defence Force Academy Lecture Theatre Six First session: the Fifth Annual ADF Medical Officer Orientation Course 0910, Monday 7 July 2031
Author’s Note This article is the last of a series regarding the role of occupational and environmental medicine in the ADF.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 These articles and a recent Productivity Commission inquiry11 describe why high workplace illness and injury rates confirm the need to improve the management of hazards associated with ADF workplaces, with better emphasis on prevention. […]
‘Military Health Support’ in the Australian Defence Force
Introduction This article follows previous papers by the author, regarding occupational and environmental medicine in the ADF.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 These papers, as well as a 2019 Productivity Commission inquiry,11 indicate that high workplace illness and injury rates confirm the need to improve the management of hazards associated with ADF workplaces, with better emphasis on prevention. To this […]