Winter Deployment 14 and 15: an audit of injury and illness rates in an Arctic environment

Arduous military training in a cold weather environment is likely to lead to a variety of injuries to the population at risk (PAR). This paper examines injury rates and medical presentations over the two years of Winter Deployments in 2014 and 2015 (WD14 and WD15) and proposes recommendations for future WDs.

Data on injury rates, number of aeromedical evacuations, and number of days of restricted duties allocated were collected prospectively for all patients presenting to Asegarden Medical Centre, Norway, during WD14 and WD15. The data were calculated as a percentage of the total PAR on each deployment to allow meaningful comparison.

During WD14, 22.8% of the PAR presented to the Medical Centre compared to 26.9% during WD15. WD15 saw a reduction in the presentation of musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries, cold weather (CW) injuries and burns. Skin problems and diarrhoea and vomiting (D&V) remained similar in both years. An increase in dental and other presentations was seen in WD15. A reduction in the overall aeromedical evacuations and number of patients requiring a light duties (LD) chit was seen during WD15.

WD15 has seen a decrease in injury rates, the number of aeromedical evacuations and LD chits issued. It is difficult to know whether these changes are a result of improved medical support, training or equipment. The liaison between the command, medical and training elements has led to improvements and should now concentrate on ways to further reduce injury rates whilst maximising arduous training benefits in an Arctic environment.