Military trauma life support: A comprehensive training program for military physicians

The Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps prepares Israeli physicians for their field duty as providers of prehospital trauma care under combat conditions. Many physicians have no previous experience with emergency medicine. Military trauma education has been improving continuously to meet this challenge. In 1990, the Advanced Trauma Life Support program was launched in Israel. In 1998, a task-oriented approach to military trauma, Military Trauma Life Support, was introduced. This course is integrated in the 3-month training period of medical officers. Its objectives are to provide a comprehensive curriculum in prehospital military trauma, to simulate realistic combat scenarios and injury patterns, and to add practical skills and prehospital experience. The practical section includes definitive airway management in hospital operating rooms, emergency procedures training on cadavers, and prehospital experience on civilian emergency medical services ambulances.