A medic checks the vital signs of a smart mannequin in a recent military health care drill. (Photo by Wu Hanbo)
During a recent military health care drill, treatment for the "wounded" was carried out intensely in a field hospital tent. "Hemorrhaging from a severed left calf. Establish a venous line and start surgery now," Mei Jie, leader of the triage group who came from the General Hospital of the PLA Western Theater Command, gave the order.
While the medical treatment was proceeding in an orderly manner, the real-time life data were transmitted onto the tablet of Ran Mingyu, chief examiner, synchronously.
Pointing at the data on the screen, Ran introduced that the "wounded" was a combat wound mannequin, which was embedded with an intelligent control system and bleeding system, able to simulate combat wounds like fainting and wound-produced bleeding, as well as physiological reactions including pupil reflex, pulse, heart sound, breathing sound, and call for help. Operations of the medics during the medical treatment were precisely recorded and fed back to the terminal, to facilitate error-correction in the training and provide the basis for more effective treatment.
No hesitation or delay is allowed in field treatment. Peacetime training will provide vital foundations to ensure precise and effective treatment for wounded personnel in the war. In recent years, focusing on enhancing Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) capabilities through the employment of technological means, the General Hospital of the PLA Western Theater Command introduced multiple kinds of intelligent training equipment – including advanced combat wound mannequins, interactive CPR mannequins, and interactive tracheal intubation mannequins – in several batches, and committed them into the TCCC training. Applying these intelligent patient mannequins, medics can conduct various invasive operations that are hard to be practiced on real people. They can also be applied to battlefield treatment training in tough environments such as high and low temperature, high altitude, and under water.
According to the leader of the hospital, with the deployment of the smart mannequins, it is possible to simulate the treatment process and the therapeutic effect after that through preset case inference and examine the emergent treatment and response capabilities of the medics in a complex battlefield environment, so as to evaluate the teamwork of the medical teams, fully exploit the potential of new equipment and promote comprehensive medical treatment capabilities.
