Engineers with the 711th Human Performance Wing www.pafb.af.mil/afrl/711HPW from the Human Effectiveness Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio are working on wearable technology to assist medics in the field. It will be possible to not only treat one wounded service member at one time, but also be able to monitor multiple patients simultaneously.
Imagine a future battlefield where an Air Force “Pararescue Jumper” (PJ) will be able to treat seven wounded service members at once. Sensors on placed on their chests, arms, and fingers which will immediately feed vital signs to a small wireless computer no bigger than a cell phone located on the arm.
A scenario might be that as the PJ checks out a wounded person, the computer vibrates. The PJ looks at the computer and sees that the heart rate is dropping so he performs chest compressions and is able to save a life.
Wireless sensors placed on the patient send aggregated vitals to a computer screen so PJs are able to make emergency medical decisions. Like a cellphone, the device can be set for three kinds of alerts, auditory, tactical, or visual.
The technology “Battlefield Airmen Trauma Distributed Observation Kit” or called BATDOK runs on a smartphone but can transfer information to any device such as a ten inch tablet in a helicopter. BATDOK does not just help during the critical care phase but since it keeps a record of all patients’ vitals and other information, this data can be retrieved at a later time.
BATDOK can also be used on humanitarian missions, where a commander could monitor a team entering an earthquake or tsunami-ravaged area, or a terrorist attack and could help not just the military but also address civilian needs.
Presently, BATDOK is being tested by the Air Force Special Operations Command and Air Combat Command and will be in front of decision boards soon. It is also being used in training scenarios at strategic locations in the U.S.