The Future of Small Navy Ship Sickbays and Army Aeromedical Evacuation Aircraft

Abstract

The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations commissioned a study to investigate the future configuration of Navy ship sickbays. Due to space constraints, sickbay capabilities are limited. Similarly, Army aeromedical evacuation helicopters have limited space to treat patients. This joint study explores how to best utilize advanced medical technologies in the sickbay of the future for the Navy's cruiser, littoral combat ship, and mine countermeasure ship and Army aeromedical evacuation platforms. This study assesses the current portable medical technologies in the selected Navy ship authorized medical allowance lists to support the force health protection functions. The study also evaluates portable medical devices in Army aeromedical evacuation medical equipment sets. Collectively, capability gaps are identified and serve as the baseline for recommending future medical technologies. This study recommends medical devices with the potential to advance patient care and proposes significant investments in bandwidth, network, and infrastructure. Smart technologies will be important in space-constrained medical environments; however, organizational restructuring and policy change is required to address the root cause of outdated medical systems. This study also recommends more inter-service collaboration, the establishment of an aeromedical evacuation program of record, and the utilization of open systems architecture for procuring future medical devices.