ABSTRACT
The 2010 Force Health Protection Capstone concept envisions a single level of theater hospitalization and a greater reliance on the strategic movement of casualties from the theater. A significant Force Health Protection implication is 100% of the combat zone patients leaving theater will not have a second stay at an echelon/level IV hospital. In 2000, the Army began moving toward the Force Health Protection concept by using a skip policy for determining 2007 medical force structure requirements. Implementing the skip policy avoids (eliminates) the second echelon/level IV hospital length of stay for a percentage of combat zone patients leaving theater. The Army's decision to implement a skip policy exposed the complexities associated with determining deployable medical force structure requirements and the inherent inter-relatedness of the services medical mission.
Subject(s)
Hospitals, Military/organization & administration , Military Medicine/organization & administration , Military Personnel , Patient Transfer/organization & administration , Wounds and Injuries/therapy , Hospitals, Packaged/organization & administration , Humans , Organizational Objectives , Organizational Policy , United States , WarfareABSTRACT
On October 24, 1983, clinical fillers rapidly integrated into the 82d Airborne Division, deployed to the Island of Grenada, and significantly contributed to the tactical medical support mission during Operation Urgent Fury. However, the medical community's unfamiliarity with the airborne division's operational requirements and the 307th Medical Battalion's capabilities have created questions which must be addressed to provide a clearer understanding of what occurred at the division level of medical support (DLMS) during the initial 4 days of the operation. This article outlines key aspects for DLMS to the U.S. Army airborne division and briefly reviews DLMS during Operation Urgent Fury. (AU)
