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Editorial COVID-19: THE MIDDLE GAME In early January 2020, we all started to hear about an outbreak of acute respiratory illness in Wuhan City, China. Within weeks, we were preparing for a pandemic, which first reached Australia in late January 2020. By March, we were all dealing with the first wave of this new disease… Read more »
G D Shanks ‘God alone would not have sent such an epidemic.’ Samoan Chief during New Zealand Samoan Epidemic Commission hearings 1919.1 History shows that infectious diseases often determined the ability of armed forces to maintain soldiers on campaign and sailors in ships. Prior to the industrialisation of warfare in World War I, disease casualties… Read more »
L Abbott Dr Frank Ochberg is a pioneer in the study and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which he believes should be renamed post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI). As his research developed, he believed that PTSI was a more relevant term. Approaching combat trauma through the lens of an injury rather than a disorder was,… Read more »
J McDaniel, D Albright, M Torabi Abstract Background: Little assessment data on cigarette use (CU) and heavy episodic drinking (HED) among older military veterans is available for local health education program planning. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of CU and HED among older veterans and nonveterans at the local… Read more »
G Swinden The world is currently combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19), which originated in China and has now spread throughout the globe. So far, Australia has fortunately been spared the worst of the outbreak, but this is not the first pandemic to reach our shores. In 1918, towards the end of World War I, the world… Read more »
C Heard, M Willcox, M Falvo, M Blatt, D Helmer Abstract Purpose: Performing well in combat requires military service members to be in peak physical shape. Although each branch of the United States military has fitness guidelines and assessments, there are no exact prescriptions for physical training programs. The absence of a standardised approach may… Read more »
Commander N Westphalen Introduction Previous articles describe the development from prehistory to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, of a cycle whereby increasing trade required larger and more efficient ships to transport merchandise and better weapons to defend or attack them; both of which in turn facilitated further trading opportunities.1;2 However, it was not until the 18th… Read more »
W Maddocks Background: Skill fade is a potential issue in any military medical training environment. Within the current New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) medic training programme, emergency skills are taught and practised in a simulated environment but are rarely used in real-life situations. As there is infrequent exposure to emergency situations during training, there is… Read more »
K Bender, A Pearson Introduction Until as recently as the second Gulf War, the skill sets of civilian general surgeons were readily transferrable into military surgical practice. The modern Australian Defence Force (ADF) faces an evolving issue where this is no longer the case. Civilian surgical practice has evolved rapidly, with newly qualified general surgeons … Read more »
