Mobile surgical hospital design: lessons from 5th MASH surgical packages for Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm

Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm defined and tested a number of assumptions about the abilities of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. These assumptions involved the adequacies of mobility, both strategic and tactical, the number of hospital beds, surgical capability, and set-up time. This article reviews the characteristics, staffing, and surgical abilities of the four types of surgical packages deployed by the 5th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in response to the changing patient care and tactical situation. These packages were the Forward Surgical Team, Forward Surgical Element, Mobile Army Surgical Hospital(-), and Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Seven variables as they relate to hospital weight and cubic space are introduced. Mobility and surgical ability are emphasized as the first and second highest priority to consider in a proposed methodology when developing Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals.