“Rapid ascents without sufficient time to adapt to altitude can lead to acute mountain sickness, or AMS,” said Dr. Stephen Muza, acting division chief for the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division, or TMMD, which is part of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, or USARIEM. “This condition, marked by nausea, fatigue, headache and gastrointestinal distress, can really throw a wedge into a mission when not planned for.”
To combat the negative effects of AMS on the modern soldier, the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division (TMMD) of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) has been developing a system called Altitude Readiness Management System or ARMS. ARMS combines population-based data with an individual’s altitude exposure, which provides information for sustaining health and improving performance. It predicts the prevalence and severity of altitude stress by incorporating altitude acclimatization, acute mountain sickness and physical work performance decrements. ARMS acts as a prediction for the level of AMS a person is likely to experience during a mission as well as offer ways to reduce and potentially avoid the affects of AMS completely.
“This model allows commanders to mitigate the impact of altitude exposure,” Beidleman said. “It not only predicts whether a Soldier would get ill at certain altitudes, it gives a prescription for exposure. This tool can prescribe, for example, that if (Soldiers spend) two days at 8,000 feet before they go to their final altitude of 14,000 feet, the likelihood and severity of AMS would be drastically reduced.”
The ultimate project goal is to produce a stand-alone software product coupled with the capability to produce a mobile version that could be integrated into a wristwatch, GPS, or smartphone. TMMD is currently collaborating with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory to create a smartphone-based app using the ARMS system.
“If a commander has a small unit of 12 Soldiers with specialized skills, and potentially two can get sick, that really impacts their mission,” Beidleman said. “With this tool, he or she can think ahead to bring an extra person or allow for more time for Soldiers to acclimatize to the altitude. Essentially, it tells them the risk and also provides them with ways to mitigate that risk.”
www.army.mil/article/111471/Army_developing_tool_to_reduce_altitude_sickness_in_deployed_Soldiers/
