Military Medical Equipment: Advanced Warming Devices Reduce Treatment Complications

Military personnel have limited time when a fellow soldier is injured in combat. Medical equipment must be quickly applied to make certain an individual can be stabilized for transport. Bullet wounds, explosion injuries, and severe lacerations are common on the battlefield. The high-velocity of munitions shells produce far more complex injuries where only limited care can be provided. Tissue loss, contamination, and secondary conditions are all realistic concerns for responders working in a combat environment.

 

Military medical equipment must be designed for easy application to accommodate the needs of battlefield treatment. A limited treatment environment with minimal resources causes the entire process to be more challenging. Warmers are equipment being incorporated by all military branches to increase survival rates, provide additional comfort, and decrease the threat of secondary medical conditions.

 

IV Fluid Warmers: A Substantial Military Equipment Addition

 

IV fluid warmers are portable devices used by medical professionals to warm fluids before entry into the blood stream. They are important to all healthcare areas because they significantly decrease the instances of hypothermia and other drastic results seen from introducing below body temperature fluids into a person’s body.

Before these devices were advanced enough to be used on the field, military medical personnel had to set up an intravenous (IV) with the chilled blood or solution needed to sustain the patient. Fluids, blood, and medicine are all preserved at a temperature cooler than that of the body. When they are supplied at chilled temperature through an IV, those injured experience additional discomfort, are at a higher risk for heart complications, and often develop hypothermia. These problems must to be treated before the appearance of the dangerous condition to greatly decreasing their survival rate.

 

Portable IV fluid warmers only take a matter of seconds to apply. They are attached between the IV bag and the bodily entry point. Once set up, they take less than a minute to warm the fluids being supplied. Batteries are rechargeable and the actual equipment is disposable. This allows the warmer to travel with anyone being treated while they are transferred to a hospital or temporary facility.

 

Equipment advancements have done wonders for combat medicine. In fact, warmers are being included as part of their treatment protocol to improve the care given in the field. Medical staffs are trained to use this important medical device any time an IV is necessary. They are being used by combat medics, evacuation teams, in response vehicles, and for surgical stabilization.

 

Hypothermia is a high risk condition that often develops as people are being treated in combat. Some treated individuals also suffer from secondary coagulopathy. Both can be avoided by using fluid warming technology during transport. A mobile battery, reduced set-up time, fitting standardization, and minimal weight make these devices ideal for any field situation. They can be easily carried by medical staff for immediate availability and meet the typical treatment challenges seen in combat.

 

Military branches also include these devices because they require little training to be applied quickly in the field. Military medical equipment saves many lives as manufacturers continually find more innovative ways to make these devices even more beneficial to battlefield medical situations.