Medical Risk in the Future Force Unit of Employment

The Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Transformation Workshop (ATW) V, which was conducted at the RAND Corporation Washington Office 25-28 May 2004, is described in this report. It includes an analysis and discussion of the workshop results. This workshop continued the assessment, begun in ATWs I-IV, of the medical risks associated with emerging Army operational concepts and the capacity of the AMEDD to mitigate these risks. The principal purpose of ATW V was to continue the process of providing casualty demand estimates that will need to be addressed by the health service support (HSS) system at echelons above the unit of action (UA). AMEDD subject matter experts supported the workshop and examined the ability of an envisioned UA medical structure to support Future Force combat operations that generated 429 casualties in an approximately 100-hour combat simulation provided by the U.S. Army. The HSS system in the UAs was heavily taxed, and the residual demand for evacuation and care at higher echelons was similarly significant. Nearly two-thirds of the casualties were determined to be ready for evacuation to these higher echelons; their disposition will necessarily depend upon capabilities at those echelons. The complete effect of the casualties examined during ATW V on the HSS system is not known, because the HSS system at higher echelons has yet to be fully developed. The results of the workshop will provide information valuable in designing the medical system at those echelons.