Medics in the Israel Defense Forces and their experience in trauma care during peacetime

Background: In the military environment it is the medics who usually provid e the initial care of mass casualties in the field. Objectives: To determine the number of incidents of trauma encountered by m edics in the Israel Defense Forces during peacetime, and to ascertain the r ole of these medics in providing primary trauma care to the victims. Methods: A retrospective questionnaire, reviewing the activities of medics in treating injured trauma victims, was distributed to medics who were in s ervice for at least 2 years after their professional training. Results: Of the 128 responding medics, 87 (68%) had actively participated i n the treatment of trauma victims under various circumstances. The average number of trauma events was 1.2 events over a period of 2 years per combat medic, and 0.7 for medics stationed in rear units. Their activities include d insertion of numerous intravenous fluid lines (57% of medics), assistance in intubations (37%), tube thoracostomies (23%), insertions of central cat heters (14%) or orogastric tubes (28%), and manual ventilations (41%). Conclusion: Since it is difficult to increase the level of practical experi ence in dealing with trauma within the military framework, new techniques s hould be applied to improve the trauma training.