Unit Casualty Extraction Trainer

Current combat training does not realistically prepare units to respond to medical emergencies once they have sustained casualties. Injuries due to vehicle rollovers and the complexity of extracting injured personnel from a damaged vehicle are not included in the training scenarios although they are common events in battle. Moreover, current training does not address the impact of casualties on combat operations and does not provide individuals in the total unit with the necessary stress inoculators to mentally prepare them to respond effectively to severe medical trauma while under fire. In reality, a casualty removes not only that Soldier’s firepower, but the firepower of the combat medic and one or two additional soldiers who must assist the medic. Medical aid must be delivered in a combat environment: medics must be able to perform while under fire and soldiers must learn to perform their mission in spite of the sights, sounds, and smells associated with combat casualties. To make this training realistic, special effects must be added to the simulators to create authentic cues, distracters, interactive response, and scenarios. Using best-of-breed state-of-the-art techniques, this program will develop a mobile, multi-sensory, combat trauma training simulator that addresses these unmet needs in a comprehensive training scenario. The system will have dual use capability with civilian emergency care.