Evolution of Biomedical Research During Combat Operations

Advances in medicine, particularly in the field of trauma, are accelerated during wartime. Throughout history, military health care providers have repeatedly faced the unique challenges that come with caring for devastating combat casualties. Many of these providers have dutifully embraced the practice of carefully documenting, analyzing, and communicating their experiences for the purpose of improving care and optimizing outcomes. Likewise, military health care providers caring for combat casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan during the last decade have continued this practice. One main difference, however, is that health care providers and investigators have more recently performed so within the context of an evolved clinical research regulatory landscape, influenced by the Belmont Report and other human subjects protection principles designed to protect the rights and welfare of subjects who participate in research. As we continue the journey toward more sophisticated research capabilities in combat, this article will help inform the design and conduct of future research performed in a theater of war. Conducting biomedical research in a combat zone is an important but difficult element of military medicine. Published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, v5 n2 supplement 2 pS115-S120, Aug 2013.