Dummies used to teach SAF medics and personnel how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are found at the SAF School of Medicine at Ulu Padan. -- ST FILE PHOTO
SOLDIERS injured on the battlefield will have a better chance of surviving, with a major revamp of the Singapore Amed Forces medical corps underway.
Mobile medical post
THE blueprint to transform the army's medical corps will also see doctors and surgeons move nearer to the frontline.
A new mobile medical post, which is mounted on a five-tonne truck, takes about 15 minutes to set up, half the time needed to set up the portable tents used now.
The army medic in the frontline will be better equipped and trained to treat more complex wounds like a punctured lung, which he can close of with a new chest seal.
Emergency and surgical facilities will also be improved and moved closer to frontline for patients who have been stabilised by the medics to be seen by doctors and surgeons.
Chief army medical officer Lieutenant-Colonel (Dr) Chua Wei Chong said: 'Its like moving the A&E to the frontline.'
The new equipment and training have been field-tested in SAF deployments in Afgahnistan and Iraq, and will be rolled out to the troops here from September.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean was briefed on the new developments within the medical corps on Friday.
By next April, all trained medics be carrying new medical kits.
It weighs about 5.5kg - 0.5kg heavier than the current one. Besides better field bandages, it will also carry a pocket-sized Automatic External Difibrillator (AED), which can jolt a failing heart into beating properly again.
Also part of his kit - a PDA that will give the medic instant access to the soldier's medical records and critical information like any drug allergies.
