Torso body armour coverage defined according to feasibility of haemorrhage control within the prehospital environment: a new paradigm for combat trauma protection

Abstract

Developments in military personal armour have aimed to achieve a balance between anatomical coverage, protection and mobility. When death is likely to occur within 60 min of injury to anatomical structures without damage control surgery, then these anatomical structures are defined as 'essential'. However, the medical terminology used to describe coverage is challenging to convey in a Systems Requirements Document (SRD) for acquisition of new armour and to ultimately translate to the correct sizing and fitting of personal armour. Many of those with Ministry of Defence responsible for the procurement of personal armour and thereby using SRDs will likely have limited medical knowledge; therefore, the potentially complex medical terminology used to describe the anatomical boundaries must be translated into easily recognisable and measurable external landmarks. We now propose a complementary classification for ballistic protection coverage, termed threshold and objective, based on the feasibility of haemorrhage control within the prehospital environment.

Keywords: cardiothoracic surgery; orthopaedic & trauma surgery; thoracic surgery.