Evacuation of wounded by Mobility Unit 5515 and Unit 669 in Khan Yunis, February 18, 2024/IDF Spokesperson
The heavy fighting in Gaza in recent months poses unprecedented challenges to the Israeli healthcare system, and the doctors are demonstrating extraordinary achievements in saving the lives of those wounded on the battlefield.
Thus, the improvement in the efficiency of the evacuation of more than a thousand wounded from the battlefield resulted in the saving of the lives of a large number of soldiers, with the help of a combination of innovative technological tools in the management of the evacuation, alongside the accelerated development and training of Tiger APCs that were converted into protected intensive care vehicles.
In addition to working around the clock to care for the soldiers The wounded, the doctors in Israel are also mobilizing to develop new technologies and methods to improve medical care in the field and to save more lives. This trend fits into the many advances that have been made in recent years in regards to the field of "medicine on the battlefield", and as in many other fields, it seems that the near future contains many more revolutions which are related to the combination of artificial intelligence and robotics also in saving lives when the bullets are whistling overhead.
Thus, the innovation of giving blood transfusions on the battlefield resulted in the saving of the lives of dozens of soldiers who might not have survived the evacuation without them. The challenge of supplying blood doses is mainly their transport under refrigeration conditions, which is done in vehicles The shields that are then used to evacuate the wounded. Similarly, other developments that are in advanced stages of implementation are trying to face other challenges of providing intensive care under fire. One of the developments that is already making skin and tendons is an innovative bandage designed to optimize and improve the treatment of the wounded and to prevent infections.
An innovative bandage designed to optimize and improve the treatment of the injured and to prevent infections./Courtesy of the developing company
The bandage is actually a sealed sticker that already contains disinfectants and treatment to prevent infections/courtesy of the developing company
A bandage that contains disinfectants and treatment to prevent infections
"When there is a wounded person in the field, the medic is required to perform a number of actions, including cleaning the wound with an antiseptic liquid, drying it, applying another anti-infection agent and only then dressing the area. That is, he has to carry a number of preparations and dressings with him. If the skin around the wound is not dry enough, the dressing is not You get infected, and with each of the operations the risk of infection increases," explains Prof. Benny Medalion, a senior heart surgeon at Rambam, who initiated the development of the bandage jointly with Prof. Yitzhak Aharon from the Heart Institute and engineer Yaron Shirim. "All this in a tumultuous combat environment where quick and efficient intervention is required and often It is necessary to treat at the same time a number of wounded people, suffering from penetration wounds or burns." The
innovative bandage is designed to optimize the treatment and ensure an optimal treatment to prevent infections. "The bandage is actually a sealed sticker that already contains disinfectants and treatment to prevent infections.
It comes in different sizes, is placed on the wound and with a light press, the antiseptic and treatment materials are released into the wound or burn without contact with the air.
This has many advantages - the treatment is fast and efficient, without any need for several preparations and different operations, it is easy and simple to use the bandage in the field and its use reduces the risks of developing infections.
The development allows continued function without the risk of infection and without soiling from secretions," adds Prof. Medalion.
Another development that has already come into use is a special drill that allows infusions to be inserted into the bone, instead of the disposable needle used by the medical teams in the field until today. The drill makes it possible to optimize the insertion of the infusion and save the need to start over in case the first attempt fails.
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"A critical procedure that makes it possible to save about 80% of the victims."
A device that allows to quickly and efficiently penetrate the right area of the chest that requires drainage/courtesy of the developing company
A third development aims to address another common challenge of battlefield injuries.
About 20% of these injuries are chest injuries.
As a result of the trauma, fluid quickly accumulates in the chest cavity between two membranes that cover the lungs, or air leaks from the lung, which can create an increasing internal pressure that causes the lung and heart to collapse.
Dr. Oved Cohen, Deputy Director of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Rambam, explains that the initial treatment in such situations is drainage of that cavity in the first hour of the injury, "This is a critical procedure that makes it possible to save about 80% of the victims. Usually a skilled surgeon performs the invasive intervention in the chest in a way that does not endanger the wounded. But those who are usually on the battlefield are a paramedic or a combat medic who need to act quickly and efficiently to save lives. This is where the development was born."
"It is a cylinder-like device with technology that allows it to quickly and efficiently penetrate the right area of the chest that requires drainage. After the device is inserted, its outer part is fixed in a way that does not allow displacement, and with a rotary movement it opens and allows the insertion of a drain, and this while significantly reducing the risk of damage to vital organs or arteries," she says Irina Kobonovski, CEO of the start-up company Vigor Medical Technologies, and notes that the development will be released on the market very soon.
The robot that treats the wounded in the field
These developments by the Rambam Hospital are part of a broader trend of applying innovative technologies to save lives on the battlefield. For example, the use of remotely piloted aircraft has changed the way combat is done on the modern battlefield and now it is about to change the capabilities of treating soldiers. In recent years, initiatives Various are mobilizing the capabilities of these tools also to save lives and improve medical care in the field. An example of this is the transport of blood doses and life-saving drugs directly to the field, to the place where the injured person is for immediate treatment.
In various countries around the world, such as the Netherlands and Sweden, drones are already being used to save lives in the environment the civilian, by quickly flying defibrillators to people who suffer from heart attacks. Drones are also used in various countries in Africa to transport blood doses and life-saving drugs. In the not too distant future we even see the use of remotely manned aircraft for the quick and safe evacuation of the injured, a development on which several companies are working in the world.
Another innovation that several companies in the world are working on will allow the use of robotic surgery tools to save lives in the field, when those who will remotely operate the robot will be doctors. In recent years, the US Army's research agency (DARPA) has been investing millions of dollars in the development of robots that could perform surgeries on the battlefield.
About a year ago, British researchers presented a prototype of a remotely controlled surgical robot designed for use in harsh field conditions.
The prototype shown is equipped with devices to assess the condition of the injured and can also inject the patient with painkillers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quC2WyrFgTU&t=24s
More on the same topic:
Israeli developments
First aid