The New York Times reports that our returning war dead have – for the first time – routinely been subjected to CT scans as a post-mortem.
The combined procedures have yielded a wealth of details about injuries from bullets, blasts, shrapnel and burns — information that has revealed deficiencies in body armor and vehicle shielding and led to improvements in helmets and medical equipment used on the battlefield…
The examiners try to remove as many metal fragments as possible, because the pieces can yield information about enemy weapons. One discovery led to an important change in the medical gear used to stabilize injured troops on the battlefield…
The medical examiners also discovered that troops were dying from wounds to the upper body that could have been prevented by body armor that covered more of the torso and shoulders. The information, which became public in 2006, led the military to scramble to ship more armor plates to Iraq.
There is a kind of tragic nobility in this, that those who gave everything for us gave up their final secrets for those they left behind.
One final service.
There is a kind of tragic nobility in this, that those who gave everything for us gave up their final secrets for those they left behind.
One final service.
Beautifully said, Lex.
Lex,
You are the Master Scribe. These Warriors are not going down without a fight. Even the Dead continue to fight, *outstanding*. “Grumpy”
I was afraid some folks would see the scans as an invasion of privacy or something. I’m glad that’s not true.
Congratulations to whoever thought of this. Our dead heroes may indeed help prevent injuries or death to others.
I would offer that this is but a continuation of the work began during the Civil War by the US Army’s Medical Department.
During that conflict, it was decided to take copius notes not only of the individual cases, their treatment and results, but to also maintain records of the wounds and injuries themselves.
Thousands of images were recorded by collosian, wet-plate, tin-plate and other methods of the “before and after” effects of wounds. Many of these were published in the Official records of the Nedical department after the war, so that other surgeons could see what had happened, how it was treated, and what the results were.
Statistical tables were also maintained so that the medical side of the war effort would be preserved for analysis by historians and anyone else interested.
In fact, many of the practices developed during and after the appointment and service of Jonathan Letterman formed the basis of today’s battlefield medicine, and some are not that much changed today. Triage, dedicated Ambulance Corps, Portable field Hospital, layered protocols, dedicated surgeons, administrators, nurses, etc.
I am glad to see this new effort. Anything that can be done to further our understanding of the nature of trauma and it’s effects, will be of great benefit to developing and perfecting new treatments that will save lives in the future.
respects,
Roger that, AW1!
Hope you all get the chance to visit AFIP (Armed Forces Institute of Pathology) Museum, adjacent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda.
http://www.afip.org/
I know it sounds a bit macabre, but the museum is a fascinating collection of the effects of trauma and disease on our armed forces for well over a century.
The exhibits on technology used in pathology is unsurpassed.