Implications for modeling casualty sustainment during peacekeeping operations

Abstract

Projections of the casualties expected during peacekeeping operations allow medical planners to assess in advance the medical resources needed to support such operations. Data detailing fatalities incurred in previous peacekeeping operations were extracted from several U.N. sources. From these data, rates of killed-in-action were computed for the deployed forces. One hundred eighty-eight peacekeeping incidents in which casualties were sustained were also examined to derive wounded-in-action rates. The estimated mean wounded-in-action rate for these operations was 3.16 per 1,000 strength per year; the estimated wounded-in-action rate for individual operations ranged from 0.49 to 12.50. There were an average of 3.8 wounded and 0.86 killed in the 188 casualty incidents examined. Thirty-eight percent of the wounds were described as serious. The casualty incidence derived in this study can provide a basis for estimating the casualties likely in future peacekeeping operations.