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Environmental extremes researchers at the US Army Institute for Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) have announced that Spartan Network (SPARNET) and the Heat Strain Decision Aid (HSDA) will be field tested over the next few months in preparation for eventual use by the Ranger Training Brigade (RTB) at Fort Benning, Georgia. SPARNET is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary telemedicine project that will enable tracking of Ranger student physiological status and physical location during high risk training activities. Soldier hydration, geo-location, velocity of movement, and body orientation will be monitored via a wireless data network enabling mitigation of risks associated with training events where Soldiers are outside the direct observation for extended periods of time. HSDA is a computerized mission planning tool used to predict heat strain during certain training events. Heat illness is a constant risk during the summer cycles among RTB students, and these systems promise to have a significant impact on the level of training and the health and safety of the Ranger students. The SPARNET/HSDA development team included USARIEM, the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), the RTB, academia, and small business.
US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command FY2008 Intramural War Supplemental Program Announcement
All interested DOD investigators should [] to read more and request an account on the War Supplemental Program website.
Welcome
The Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP) provides biomedical solutions that protect Soldiers and enhance their performance in operational and training environments that include multiple stressors. It is a unique biomedical research program with relevant Program Areas, a problem-solving orientation, and a human physiology research focus.
The MOMRP represents unique expertise in both health and performance effects of multiple interacting operational hazards and stressors. The focus is on multistressor interactions involving human tolerances, metabolic physiology, and brain functioning. The core biomedical research capabilities are organized into thirteen areas ranging from environmental medicine and bioenergetics, injury sciences and systems hazards to neuropsychological stress and performance.
Current operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bosnia have illustrated the urgent need for the biomedical solutions that the MOMRP provides. The Soldier standing his watch, the pilot securing her helmet, or the commander directing his troops in the field are all affected by research that the MOMRP provides. The resulting products of this biomedical research transition to Army planners, doctrine and materiel developers and the Army medical community. Examples of MOMRP products include physiological response and injury prediction tools, equipment design specifications and guidelines based on human tolerances, and health hazard assessment criteria and methods.
These MOMRP research products ultimately protect Soldiers, enhance their performance, and provide the "best available" answers for immediate military decision-making.
The MOMRP conducts collaborative research with university and commercial laboratories and other federal agencies oriented toward solving critical problems facing the Army today and in the future. Service- and platform-specific issues are addressed through close coordination with Navy and Air Force counterparts to prevent duplication of effort. The MOMRP uses an independent, external scientific peer review process to ensure high quality and validity of its research, peer review of milestone accomplishments and to prepare these findings for publication in the open scientific literature.
