San Francisco-based Zipline uses drones to deliver critical and lifesaving medicine to thousands of hospitals serving millions of people in multiple countries.
First, they are looking for a Client Engagement & Service Integration Manager on their US team to lead some of their largest partnerships. Second, is a DoD Sales Director.
The Ventway Sparrow Ultra Portable Turbine Ventilator allows for both invasive and noninvasive ventilation for patients weighing above 5 kg and weighs ~1 kg (2.2 Pounds).
This ventilator allows treating any patient from the point of injury all the way to the ICU using only one ventilator The Ventway is suitable for chronic, life support-ventilation in COVID-19 patients as well.
A built-in turbine removes dependency from external oxygen supply and serves as a cooling system, while an optional quick start mode allows for ventilation to start within five seconds after three clicks. An internal battery provides up to 4.5 hours of operation.
There is a militarized version which is night vision compatible and operational at altitudes of up to 25,000 feet.
The Sparrow line of ventilators recently received FDA 510(k) clearance.
The Inovytec Sparrow Ultra Portable Turbine Ventilator is available for unit and when you orders from Atlantic Diving Supply.
CTOMS Academy is scheduled to launch at the end of March. This is a new online training platform that CTOMS has been developing over the last 2 years. With such a high demand for their training, CTOMS wanted to offer a solution on a much broader scale, while at the same time improving the delivery consistency, quality, and making access to it more convenient and cost effective. This led to the creation of an inhouse video production capability. Mission Essential Training remains the practical training division of CTOMS and continues to run in person tactical medical training.
The courses are arranged in building block formation, where different training modules will build on each other. These modules are engaging, narrated videos that include animation and video demonstrations to provide visual representation of the topics. The videos are on average 10 minutes, making accessibility and progress of the training convenient.
There are both civilian and tactical oriented casualty approach courses. The tactical medical programs cover the principals of TCCC, but do not offer formal TCCC Certification as this requires the verbatim use of the PHTLS slides. Instead, these courses use animation and live demonstration videos edited into in depth narrated script.
Phase 1 launch includes foundation building courses. Subsequent course releases will include a wide variety of topics that will both stand alone and build upon the existing courses. These include guest contributors who are experts in their fields.
Follow CTOMS on Instagram and Facebook for updates, teasers, and promotions as they get closer to their launch date, and we will continue to post updates here on SSD as well.
During a recent visit to Tac M’s ed Solutions they presented me with this Critical Event Individual Kit. It’s a very cool very of an IFAK, but what makes this particular one so interesting is that they made it while I was there touring the facility. One of our first stops was to their dedicated R&D department where they cook up new ideas and make short runs of custom products. They showed me their laser cutter and talked about how they were starting to integrate laser cutting more and more into their softgood designs.
After lunch, they presented me with this kit which features the SSD logo laser cut into the Black pouch and contrasted with MultiCam Black. They didn’t even ask me for a vector file of the logo. They went out on the web, found it and converted it into a format they could use on their cutter.
When I got it, I was pretty amazed, but once I opened it up, my smile became even wider. After all, the whole purpose of a pouch is to carry and I wanted to see what they had stuffed it with. Created as part of Tac Med Solutions’ NFPA 3000 compliant TacMed Critical Event Response System, the pouch include internal panels that can be adjusted to fit your exact equipment loadout and attaches to your vest or belt via PALS compatible straps.
They offer standard load detailed below, or you can specify contents.
Contents:
1x Signature Series OIFAK Pouch (Black)
1x SOF® Tourniquet Gen 4 (Rescue Orange)
1x OLAES® Modular Bandage (4″, Flat-Packed)
1x TACgauze Wound Wrapping Gauze
1x HALO Chest Seal (Vented, 2-pack, IFAK Size)
1x Trauma Shears (5.5″)
1x TacMed™ Combat Casualty Card
1x Sharpie (Black)
3PR Nitrile Gloves (Black, Size XL)*
Even with all of that, there’s still some room to spare so for my kit, they added something extra, the RISE (Rigid Immobilization System for Extremities), which I think is the coolest product launched during this year’s SHOT Show on Demand.
It is the most compact splint I have ever run across. It can be configured as a straight splint, 90-degree splint, or pelvic binder by using a windlass or ratcheting tourniquet with the available cutout slots. As you can see, it will still fit into most individual first aid kits, including all standard military-issue IFAKs. It’s also radiolucent, blood and chemical resistant.
This version of the Critical Event Individual Kit won’t be offered for sale, it was just a demonstration of their capability. Unfortunately, this custom service won’t be available for individual purchases. However, Tac Med Solutions will integrate custom logos for unit and agency orders (minimums apply).
www.tacmedsolutions.com/Critical-Event-Individual-Kit
*I’m going to swap the gloves out because it can be difficult to discern blood from other fluids with Black gloves, particularly in the dark.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Paratroopers of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, “Spartan Brigade,” began a six month-long study on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, using wearable technology to study the resiliency of soldiers operating in an Arctic environment, Jan. 11, 2020.
The Spartan Brigade contracted with wearable technology company WHOOP and scientists from the University of Queensland to conduct a 6-month study of nearly 1,000 paratroopers. Paratroopers use the real-time data provided by the WHOOP straps and accompanying mobile phone application to measure their daily strain and recovery rates while training in extreme Arctic winter conditions.
“The rigors of Arctic airborne operations take a toll on the human body,” said Col. Chris Landers, the Spartan Brigade commander. “How do we maximize a paratrooper’s effectiveness on the battlefield while dealing with extreme cold and lack of sunlight?”
As the only airborne infantry brigade combat team in the Arctic theater, the Spartan Brigade paratroopers conduct airborne operations in sub-freezing temperatures, during high winds, and with minimal hours of sunlight.
“We’re called on by our nation to respond with little notice to contingencies around the globe,” said Landers. “We don’t choose the time or the place, but we can choose how well we perform when we get there.”
Using adjustable wrist straps, the study captures biometric data on each volunteer participant throughout the workday and while they’re sleeping, providing an analysis of their exertion, heart rate behavior, and sleep quality, all of which is used to determine overall strain and recovery.
Unlike blind studies, the paratroopers participating in this study will each have immediate access to their own data through the accompanying mobile application, and can make decisions using this feedback to improve their personal performance.
“We are empowering our paratroopers to better understand themselves,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Alex Kupratty, the Spartan Brigade command sergeant major. “This study is all about putting the power of technology and data directly into their hands, so they can truly harness their own potential.”
Paratroopers will also be provided educational blocks to teach them techniques to maximize their recovery. Partway through the study, a section of participants will be asked to concentrate on three habits: creating a cold, dark space for sleeping; not eating after 7pm, and sticking to a rigid sleep time schedule.
“The goal of the study is twofold,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Phillip Ranck, study project leader for the Spartan Brigade. “First, that soldiers gain a better understanding of themselves. Second, that soldiers understand that their leaders are taking an aggressive approach to understanding the impacts of training and the Arctic environment’s impact on their mental and physical health.”
Participants can also sign up for social groups, adding a competitive incentive within their peer groups as they compare their strain and recovery numbers every day.
“The goal is to give our paratroopers the data and education to shape the conversations among their peers about their daily fitness and health,” said Kupratty. “Not only do they better understand their own bodies, but they’re building lifelong, healthy habits along the way.”
All leaders from the squad level and up will have access to their paratroopers’ data, so they can adjust training and operational plans to maximize the health and potential of their teams.
“Imagine as a squad leader that you have a paratrooper that has had an abnormally low recovery for several days,” said Kupratty. “Maybe your platoon has been in the field for weeks, or the paratrooper just returned from an Army school. Now you have the data to better help them recover, or to adjust your training to match the team’s needs.”
According to some researchers, fluctuations in someone’s recovery rate may indicate a buildup of social or personal stressors that can lead to decreased motivation or resiliency, or the development of an illness like influenza or COVID-19.
“This is all about better understanding what a soldier needs to be the best version of themselves as fast as possible,” said Kupratty.
The study is organized by the brigade’s digital technology innovation cell, SPARwerx. The SPARwerx initiative crowdsources innovators from across the brigade to develop internal technologies, systems, and concepts to maximize the welfare, safety and efficiency of Spartan paratroopers.
By MAJ Jason Welch
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Research shows that Soldiers exposed to shockwaves from military explosives are at a higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease — even those that don’t have traumatic brain injuries from those blasts. A new Army-funded study identifies how those blasts affect the brain.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in collaboration with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, now known as DEVCOM, the Army Research Laboratory, and the National Institutes of Health found that the mystery behind blast-induced neurological complications when traumatic damage is undetected may be rooted in distinct alterations to the tiny connections between neurons in the hippocampus, the part of the brain particularly involved in memory encoding and social behavior.
The research published in Brain Pathology, the medical journal of the International Society of Neuropathology, was funded by the lab’s Army Research Office.
“Blasts can lead to debilitating neurological and psychological damage but the underlying injury mechanisms are not well understood,” said Dr. Frederick Gregory, program manager, ARO. “Understanding the molecular pathophysiology of blast-induced brain injury and potential impacts on long-term brain health is extremely important to understand in order to protect the lifelong health and well-being of our service members.”
The research team tested slices of rat hippocampus by exposing the healthy tissue to controlled military blast waves. In the experimental brain explants (tissue slices maintained alive in culture dishes), the rapid blast waves produced by the detonated military explosives led to selective reductions in components of brain connections needed for memory, and the distinct electrical activity from those neuronal connections was sharply diminished.
The research showed that the blast-induced effects were evident among healthy neurons with subtle synaptic pathology, which may be an early indicator of Alzheimer’s-type pathogenesis occurring independent of overt brain damage.
“This finding may explain those many blast-exposed individuals returning from war zones with no detectable brain injury, but who still suffer from persistent neurological symptoms, including depression, headaches, irritability and memory problems,” said Dr. Ben Bahr, the William C. Friday distinguished professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at UNC-Pembroke.
The researchers believe that the increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease is likely rooted in the disruption of neuronal communication instigated by blast exposures.
“Early detection of this measurable deterioration could improve diagnoses and treatment of recurring neuropsychiatric impediments, and reduce the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease later in life,” Bahr said.
UNC-Pembroke is a minority-serving institution.
By U.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) —
Air Mobility Command hosted the final operational demonstration for the Patient Loading System at Scott Air Force Base, Jan. 25-28.
The PLS is a portable and constructable ramp used to safely on and offload patients to high-deck aircraft, such as the KC-10 Extender, KC-46 Pegasus and KC-135 Stratotanker.
“This upgraded system represents a new frontier in our ability to support the global aeromedical evacuation mission,” said Brig. Gen. Norman West, AMC command surgeon.
Eight medical technicians from the 375th Medical Group were first trained on how to construct the system, then assembled it to demonstrate the capability to AMC leaders.
“Our AE system is designed to make us self-sufficient, so we don’t have to rely on non-medical staff to load our patients or equipment,” said Lt. Col. Todd Roman, medical modernization division chief at the AMC Office of the Surgeon General. “We have to teach our staff to put this together, which is what we’re doing this week. We’re also testing to see how long it takes to put it together.”
According to Roman, the goal is for an eight-person medical team to construct the system within eight hours. Despite having never seen it before, the team met all assembly requirements. They also provided invaluable feedback to improve instructions and ease of assembly as the system moves to final production.
“The ability to configure the device to meet the requirements of all three high-deck aircraft allows us to be adaptable to the aircraft available, even in the most resource-limited environment,” West said.
The current PLS design has multiple drawbacks, including weight limitations and steeper ramp incline. Additionally, since it was designed for Civil Air Reserve Fleet aircraft, its military utility is limited to the KC-135.
During AE missions that use low-deck aircraft, such as the C-17 Globemaster III and C-130 Hercules, patients can simply be carried on and off the aircraft. But high-deck aircraft present a unique challenge.
“For our high-deck aircraft, we need a mechanism to get our patients from the ground to deck level,” Roman said. “The PLS is designed to provide a safe, alternative method to loading patients when mechanical means are not available.
“This is a significant accomplishment from a strategic standpoint, because in this peer/near-peer competition, we can now use nearly any cargo aircraft for AE missions,” Roman continued.
The system also allows AMC to better project the joint force, one of its four command priorities focused on rapidly delivering combat power, humanitarian aid and disaster response, anywhere in the world and at a moment’s notice.
“The U.S. Air Force AE system is world-class and has been adapting to ‘aircraft of opportunity’ even before the retirement of the C-9A Nightingale, which was AMC’s last dedicated AE airframe,” Roman said. “This system further improves our AE capability by giving combatant commanders greater flexibility in our ability to evacuate patients using any available aircraft, regardless of available base support.”
By MSgt R.J. Biermann, Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s cutting-edge research creates future warfighting technologies for the Air and Space Forces, protecting the lives of those that put themselves in harm’s way. Ground-breaking research into cellular reprogramming, made possible in part with funding from AFRL’s Air Force Office of Scientific Research, is leading to technology that could heal wounds more than five times faster than the human body can heal naturally, vastly improving long-term health care outcomes for warfighters and veterans.
Dr. Indika Rajapakse, associate professor of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics and associate professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan, is researching ways to reprogram a person’s own cells to heal wounds faster. In order to get high-resolution views inside live cells to better understand the wound-healing process, Rajapakse submitted a Defense University Research Instrumentation Program proposal to purchase a live cell imaging microscope. Dr. Frederick Leve, program officer for AFOSR’s Dynamical Systems and Control Theory portfolio, selected Rajapakse’s proposal.
The microscope also assists in gathering data for an algorithm which can mathematically identify when best to intervene in a cell’s cycle to heal wounds. Leve, in collaboration with Dr. Fariba Fahroo, AFOSR program officer for the Computational Mathematics portfolio, awarded Rajapakse a grant for research to improve this algorithm.
“There are amazing opportunities in the United States, that you don’t see in the rest of the world, to humanize science and meet critical needs in medicine,” Rajapakse said. “We have the resources to do this, and it is our obligation to take full advantage of them. Thanks to the Air Force’s help, I was able to acquire the tools I need to advance my research into cellular reprogramming and wound healing.”
This funding connection was made possible by collaboration between the AFRL’s 711th Human Performance Wing, and Air Force Futures. Col. Charles Bris-Bois, the Air Force Disruptive Technology Team lead, was instrumental in making the connection between this novel technological concept and Air Force operational needs. The team saw a clear opportunity and helped Rajapakse reimagine his technology for other uses not immediately thought of such as aeromedical environments and how the presence of unhealed wounds increases aircrew susceptibility to hypoxia and other altitude related injuries.
“The impact of this research effort can be far reaching,” said Dr. Rajesh Naik, 711th Human Performance Wing chief scientist. “The convergence of biosciences with mathematical models can truly provide an inflection point to advance the development of wound healing. Dr. Rajapakse’s research can result in innovative solutions for addressing our needs in the aeromedical operations and in future space environments.”
Bris-Bois’ team used their real-world operational experience and insights to help uncover other potential challenge areas and medical applications, such as burn healing, skin grafts, organ transplants, etc. The continued partnership between AFRL and Air Force Futures helped to bridge the tech-to-operational divide, facilitating a move from the lab to real-world testing and applications.
“Indika’s research is exactly the kind of breakthrough technology we’re looking for in Air Force Disruptive Technology,” Bris-Bois said. “This shows the real promise of our efforts to bring warfighters and technologists together to imagine the possibilities of early scientific research.”
Cellular reprogramming is the process of taking one type of human cell, such as a skin cell, and reprogramming its genome so that it becomes a different kind of cell, such as a muscle cell, blood cell, neuron, or any other type of human cell. This is done using proteins called transcription factors. Transcription factors “turn on and off” various genes within cells to regulate activities such as cell division and growth, and cell migration and organization.
With the application of the right transcription factors, Rajapakse found that wounds healed more than five times faster than allowing the wounds to heal on their own. The next step is to figure out how best to apply them. The envisioned technology would act like a “spray-on” bandage, applying transcription factors directly to wounds. This method would convert exposed deep muscle cells into surface skin cells, which would mean a higher probability of successful healing than the current methods of skin grafting.
However, identifying which transcription factors make the required changes to create the right kind of cell requires a long process of trial and error. Rajapakse and his team have developed a data-guided algorithm to mathematically identify the correct transcription factors and predict the points in the cell cycle where transcription factors can best affect the desired change. The live cell imaging microscope provides data to further improve the algorithm.
“It’s rare that mathematics provides such promising results so quickly,” Leve said. “It usually takes decades for basic math research to make it into models which can be applied to a technology. In Dr. Rajapakse’s case, it only took a handful of years. AFRL is proud that our funding enabled mathematical theory for modeling and valuable data to be gathered which contributed to this rapid development.”
The success of Rajapakse’s project is a testament to AFRL’s purposeful outreach and relationships with partners such as Air Force Futures. This renewed commitment provides a mechanism for “out-of-the-box thinking” for potentially disruptive capabilities that will revolutionize the Air Force in the years to come.
“It is a really big deal that two opposite ends of the technology maturity spectrum — basic research and capability-focused operators — came together in this instance to identify an opportunity to help our warfighters and made it happen—fast!” said Dr. Shery Welsh, AFOSR director. “We are proud of our AFOSR Science and Engineering division for building an active, robust engagement with Air Force Futures that removed science roadblocks and created a pathway for transition.”
By Matthew D. Peters, Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation
