Military medicine/Cold weather environments

Military Medicine in Cold Weather Environments

Military clinicians practicing medicine in cold weather environments must have specialized knowledge on how to predict, prevent, and treat medical problems related to the cold.

This course will provide an overview of the historical problems of cold weather in a military context, the human psychological and physiological responses to cold, the prevention of cold injuries, the presentation and management of common cold injuries, and military medical operational planning considerations for cold environments.

This course contains nine modules:

Module 1. The Effects of Cold on the Conduct of Warfare.

• Ancient history to World War One
• World War One
• Research up to World War One
• World War Two
• Research during World War Two
• Korean War
• Falklands War
• Historical Trends in Management

Module 2. The Human Physiologic Response to Cold

• Core and Peripheral Temperatures
• Neurological Thermoregulation
• Systems Thermoregulation
• Military Relevant Issues

Module 3. Human Psychological Effects to Cold

• Prolonged Severe Cold Stress
• Hypothermia and Behaviour
• Effects of Mild to Moderate Cold Stress
• Practical Application to Military Operations

Module 4. The Prevention of Cold Injuries

• Cold Injury Potential
• Cold Injury Prevention

Module 5. Freezing Injuries

• Evolution of understanding
• Clinical Picture
• Management
• Squalae
• Evaluation for Return to Duty

Module 6. Non-Freezing Cold Injury

• Clinical Features
• Etiology and Pathogenesis
• Experimental Approaches to Treatment
• Treatment
• Pharmacologic Considerations
• Protection and Prevention

Module 7. Hypothermia

• Epidemiology
• Clinical Picture
• Rewarming Options
• Field Stabilization
• In Hospital Management
• Outcome and Disposition

Module 8. Cold Water Immersion

• Regulation of Body Heat Content
• Physiological Responses to Immersion
• Gender Differences in Thermoregulation
• Protective Clothing
• Near Drowning
• Acclimatization

Module 9. Military Operations in the Cold Environment

• The Role of Preventive Medicine
• Survival Skills for Medical Personnel in a Cold Weather Environment
• Management of Casualties

School:Medicine