Improving the Effectiveness of Combat Wounded Warfighters
NCMS Project #: 140884
Problem: Moving injured people safety and effectively is not a unique issue to the military. The Army has been using a standardized litter for transporting battlefield casualties into vehicles for emergency evacuations to field hospitals since World War II. Litters continue to have the same basic construct with some improvements in attachment points, or straps for multiple vehicle transport. There is little to nothing in place for further injury mitigation caused by vibration or shock loads induced during transport of the victim.
Benefit: The modular design, vibration mitigation and protection will directly translate to improvements in the civilian sector for remote rescue units, urban casualty transport and air evacuation scenarios. Enhanced human-litter ergonomics will add comfort to the injured as well as help to mitigate/eliminate unintended injuries during transportation.
Solution/Approach: This project will look at multi modal forces and vibration on the body and develop a modular vibration mitigation system that will establish a barrier to absorb vibrational force between the injured body and litter. Thus, it will provide multi-directional support that will consist of three sections of stabilization to include the head/neck, torso/arms, and pelvis/leg areas and prevent body shifts during transport. Efforts will focus on component materials to reduce vertical shock inputs to the body, and durability to reach a wide range of larger size and weight casualties; thus, enhancing capabilities within public rescue agencies. The initiative will use the U.S. military as a surrogate to public industry and medical facilities for research and development to improve the litter design.
Impact on Warfighter:
- Increased safety and rate of survival
- Better design performance for a large spectrum of occupant accommodation
- Increased specialty response team capabilities
DOD Participation:
- U.S. Army TARDEC
- U.S. Army MEDCOM
Industry Participation:
- Archimedes Analytics
- Portable Factory
- NCMS
Benefit Area(s):
- Repair turn-around time
- Safety
- Improved readiness
Focus Area:
- Energy, environmental, health, and safety