FREQUENCY OF MEDICAL COVERS AND DISEASES ENCOUNTERED IN FIELD BY A FIELD MEDICAL UNIT OF PAKISTAN ARMY

Medical Covers And Diseases Encountered in Field

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of medical covers and diseases encountered in the field by a field medical unit of Pakistan Army.
Study Design: Descriptive study.
Place and Duration of Study: The Study was conducted in 61 Medical Battalion Multan, from Jan 2013 to Dec 2013.
Patients and Methods: All the medical help demanded either in the form of nursing assistants (NA) or medical officers (MO) or advanced dressing station (ADS) or forward treatment centre (FTC), by a competent authority of HQ Log 2 Corps, during complete one year of 2013 (January 2013 to December 2013).
Results: A total of 90% of all medical covers were in-station and 95% of them required NA only. Ten percent of all medical covers were out-station and 98% of them required MO also. Eighty percent of the diseases faced in field were gastroenteritis, 15% upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), 5% were heat exhaustion, trauma, foot rot, arthropode/vector borne diseases.
Conclusion: Prompt first aid and speedy evacuation is the essence of medical cover. Basic life support (BLS) trained nursing staff and speedy, reliable and fast ambulance is the core of medical evacuation. MO is only to be employed where distance from any other medical or surgical facility is more than 2 hours. Water source in field to be screened for coliform count under responsibility of concerned engineer detachment or packed water bottles to be provided from the supply detachments.