Military Preventable Death Conceptual Framework: A Systematic Approach for Reducing Battlefield Mortality

Area of Science:

• Trauma Care Systems
• Military Medicine
• Public Health Surveillance

Background:

• The National Academies' Report on Zero Preventable Deaths emphasized integrating military and civilian trauma care lessons.
• A key objective was establishing military preventable death metrics, revealing a lack of standardized methodology within the Department of Defense.
• Existing systems lacked reliable methods for estimating preventable deaths and identifying trauma care improvement opportunities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a standard military preventable death review process.
• To develop reliable metrics for preventable deaths in military trauma care.
• To create a framework for a national learning trauma care system.

Main Methods:

• Collaboration between clinical and non-clinical subject matter experts from the Joint Trauma System and Armed Forces Medical Examiners System.
• Assessment of methodological best practices for preventable death reviews.
• Development of a conceptual framework for a battle-related mortality surveillance system.

Main Results:

• Initiation of a process to establish a standard military preventable death review.
• Conceptual framework developed for the first military battle-related mortality surveillance system.
• Identification of opportunities to improve the military trauma care system through data-driven metrics.

Conclusions:

• A standardized military preventable death review process is crucial for improving trauma care.
• The developed framework will enable the establishment of a vital battle-related mortality surveillance system.
• This initiative supports the creation of a national learning trauma care system by leveraging military experience.