General document | Concept Development of a Modular Automated Care Stretcher

ABSTRACT

A concept is proposed for a casualty evacuation stretcher with continuous monitoring and automated care functionality. The concept stretcher can assess a casualty's cardiovascular, respiratory and brain function and provide decision assistance and automatic life support. The system facilitates rapid care and evacuation in challenging casualty evacuation scenarios.

Executive Summary

In this report we propose a concept for a casualty evacuation stretcher with continuous monitoring and automated care functionality. The investigative work underlying the concept was carried out by Timothy Mitchell on a 12 week placement as part of Defence Science and Technology Group’s 2018/19 Summer Vacation Placement program.

Casualty evacuation is a time-critical mission. Maximum survivability requires rapid and effective care at the point of injury (POI) and safe transport to surgical facilities as soon as possible. Current casualty evacuation measures are impeded by large distances, dangerous environments, inefficient casualty information transfer and short supply of medical personnel and evacuation assets. Here we propose a concept for a stretcher with casualty monitoring and automated care capability. The readiness of underlying and related technologies is discussed, and the concept is evaluated for benefit and feasibility.

The proposed Modular Automated Care Stretcher (MACS) promises substantial benefit for Army medical capability. The system would project sophisticated care closer to the point of injury, allow greater freedom for optimisation of medical personnel distribution and would facilitate evacuation and provision of care in challenging environments. Furthermore, an optional isolation capsule module could prove useful in CBRN evacuations by reducing the number of personnel put at risk.

Core subsystems of MACS, including integrated conventional vitals monitoring and intravenous infusion and ventilation, could be implemented within five years. However further development of the concept will require collaboration with the end-users to ensure appropriate priorities and practical considerations are addressed.