Fantoms that “bleed”, virtual reality moving a lifeguard to the battlefield and artificial intelligence analyzing all move. 5 Military Clinical infirmary in Krakow teaches lifesaving in conditions where there is no MEDEVAC helicopter, and decisions must be made in a fewer seconds. Almost a 100 people took part in the training, including military and civilian medics.
There's no silence known from the O.R. There's chaos, stress and time pressure. Plus, shots, explosions, flames. "A wounded soldier" screams, loses consciousness and lots of blood... In the training hall 5 Military Clinical infirmary in Kraków Thanks to VR technology, rescuers and doctors are moving to the battlefield. – Although it is virtual reality, the brain is deceived and reacts as if we were truly there. So we teach how to aid the victim, but besides how to aid ourselves in specified utmost conditions – explains Anna Wereszczyńska, teacher of training. He adds that simulation exercises aid control stress. And that's crucial. “You can be a large doctor, but in the face of danger you can act like a paralyzed individual and not take any intervention,” he says.
W Almost a 100 people were trained: military and civilian paramedics, peculiar Forces soldiers, 6th Airborne Brigade, 11th Małopolska Territorial Defence Brigade, doctors and infirmary staff from all over Poland. For respective hours, they started stasis, covered massive haemorrhages, carried the wounded in conditions that were as close as possible to combat.
Pressure training
He's bleeding, breathing, moving, responding to pain. "Die" if individual makes a mistake. Phantom high-fidelity looks and reacts like a real patient. “This simulator was created for the needs of the U.S. Army, based on the conclusions of missions in Afghanistan and Iraq,” explains Anna Wereszczyńska. – First of all, we always treat bleeding. due to the fact that a man could bleed out in a substance of seconds. Only later do we irritate the airways – he continues the instruction.
Fantoms connected to the monitors show pressure, sats, temperature. Intubation, defibrillation, ECG measurement and ventilation can be performed. – A advanced fidelity simulator allows you to execute advanced lifesaving treatments – says Kamil Surdyk, 1 of the trainers. He adds that this applies to both limb amputation and bleeding treatment, and the computer analyzes all activity. Phantom exercises let trainees to improve their method and reflexes in crisis situations.
Thus the Polish Army prepares medics and soldiers for the realities of the war, which present sets out the front in Ukraine. “Advanced medical simulation techniques increase life-saving efficiency by up to 40–50 percent compared to conventional methods,” says Paweł Oskwarek of the Military Medical Institute Medical Simulation Branch. “We gotta put a large deal of emphasis on training soldiers who are straight with the victim,” he adds.
Lessons from Ukraine
In the war in Ukraine, the conditions for providing assistance disagree from those in Afghanistan or Iraq. “There were safe bases there, and evacuation was quick. Today, this situation is completely different. There are no safe hospitals in Ukraine," explains Paweł Okwarek. Therefore, rescuers must act differently than they did a decade ago. – The field medicine moved closer to the front line. The time to scope the injured doctor may be up to 24 hours. That's why we train soldiers to be able to give first aid and keep their vital functions until the doctor arrives," the colonel emphasizes. Janusz Piskorowski, Deputy manager of the military infirmary in Kraków for the military medical safety area. – Today, most injuries are not gunshot wounds, they are shrapnel wounds or multiorgan blasting combo injuries. These are very complex injuries – Colonel Piskorowski continues.
Hence the request to make specialised centres that will let to prepare medical personnel and soldiers for the realities of the modern battlefield. In Krakow, preparations are already underway for the establishment of the Centre for the Training of medicine of Fields of Combat – places to respond to these fresh challenges. “I think it is simply a drop in the sea of needs, due to the fact that there are more and more of them, both from the military and the full civilian market”, says Prof. Bartłomiej Guzik, manager of the 5th Military Clinical infirmary in Krakow. It was here in the first days of the war that wounded soldiers came from the Ukrainian front. – The first experience with specified patients we already have. But we request to keep developing, so we are gradually investing in the most modern medical equipment. We cooperate with the Ukrainian side, with peculiar forces units, with universities to make competences. We want to make a place where all soldier will be able to come and practice circumstantial abilities," explains the infirmary director.
In Poland, there are about 166 1000 doctors with the right to practice, but military only over 800.
