Army Emergency Medicine: Advancing the Vison for Army Medicine

The US Army Medical Department (AMEDD) is facing unprecedented changes brought on by legislative directives and a renewed emphasis on operational readiness. This article explores the impact of the Medical Corps (MC) survey results, media attention on military trauma readiness, and congressional mandates on military medicine. It highlights the work of emergency medicine (EM) physicians across the Army and the impact of the EM community on helping shape the future of Army medicine. Emergency Physicians at the Medical Center of Excellence are leveraging medical simulation to reduce a reliance on real-life experience, leading the development of new and increased opportunity for simulated operational medical training in order to meet the demands of deploying units. EM leadership at the Program Executive Officer for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) is helping ensure medical simulation capabilities developed meet the needs of the medical end user. The AMEDD Military-Civilian Trauma Team Training (AMCT3) partnerships developed as a line of effort under the Army Medical Skills Sustainment Program (AMSSP) are developing partnership to place military trauma teams in Level 1 civilian trauma centers to optimize real-world training. And EM physicians are serving as key leaders in the Army Ready Surgical Force Task Force tackling issues like central management of critical wartime specialties and legislative changes to lift caps on military physician bonuses to improve salary parity with the civilian sector.