Combat trauma care: Lessons learned from recent combat operations

The modern battlefield is a highly complex and deadly arena that continues to drive innovation and advancements in both civilian and military trauma care. Prior to World War I, the vast majority of battlefield morbidity and mortality was due to infectious and other medical diseases. Simultaneous advances in medicine and weaponry subsequently resulted in trauma becoming the predominant focus of battlefield medicine. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, resulted in the first large-scale and prolonged forward deployment of military medical assets since the Vietnam War. Although a full description of the breadth and depth of trauma experience gained from these conflicts is not possible here, the purpose of this chapter is to highlight some of the major lessons learned (and relearned) over the past two decades of sustained combat and other forward medical operations.