Report of Combat Trauma Surgical Training at Ben Taub General Hospital

Abstract : THE REPORT OF COMBAT TRAUMA SURGICAL TRAINING (CTST) AT BEN TAUB GENERAL HOSPITAL (BTGH) DETAILS THE BACKGROUND, CONCEPT, CONDUCT, AND RESULTS OF THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED (SEPTEMBER 1998) CTST ROTATION OF AN ARMY FORWARD SURGICAL TEAM (FST) AT BTGH. THE STATED PURPOSES OF THE PILOT STUDY WERE MET IN FULL. (1) THE PILOT DEMONSTRATED THAT CTST OF AN ENTIRE FST WAS LEGALLY POSSIBLE. (2) THE PILOT DEMONSTRATED THAT NON-GRATUITOUS CTST, WITH A MEASURE OF REIMBURSEMENT FOR HEALTH CARE SERVICES RENDERED, IS CONTRACTUALLY POSSIBLE. (3) A TRAINING PLAN WAS DEVELOPED THAT MEASURED CTST BENEFIT AND LINKED THAT BENEFIT TO INCREASED FST SURGICAL READINESS. (4) A COST ANALYSIS OF THE CTST PILOT ROTATION TO INCLUDE UPFRONT AND OPPORTUNITY COSTS WAS - CONDUCTED. (5) THE COST AND TRAINING BENEFITS OF THE PILOT PROJECT WERE REPORTED TO ALL APPROPRIATE JOINT MEDICAL AGENCIES AND EACH OF THE SERVICE SURGEONS GENERAL. BASED ON THE PILOT STUDY DATA THE AUTHORS FURTHER RECOMMEND THE EXECUTION OF A FEASIBILITY STUDY ESTABLISHING BTGH AS A JOINT TRAUMA TRAINING CENTER (JTTC) WITH PERMANENT MILITARY STAFF ASSIGNED IN OBSERVER CONTROLLER ROLES TO FACILITATE THE TRAINING.