Prolonged field care in foreign army battlefield rescue: An expert commentary

Ladder rescue is a key step in army medical support. While the management of the critically wounded has always been a difficult problem, especially in remote and severe environments, how to scientifically and systematically manage the wounded stranded before the hospital has become the focus of the Chinese military's medical support research. Prolonged field care (PFC) is a new research hotspot in the field of pre-hospital rescue in the world. The rescue outcome of critically injured patients under poor rescue conditions can be improved through the analysis of rescue strategies for critically wounded patients who are temporarily unable to be evacuated, combined with the full measurement of complex tactical environments and local conditions or resources, with scientific decisions based on evidence-based medicine and telemedicine consultation. The core strategies of PFC include injury monitoring, airway management, transfer ambulance, resuscitation, field surgery, hypothermia prevention, infection control, pain management, casualty care, telemedicine, etc. With the experience of PFC from foreign armies, immediate research must be conducted on a PFC strategy suited to the actual conditions of our army's battlefield rescue. It will help to clarify the military's wartime medical rescue ideas, update the rescue equipment, form localized PFC rescue norms and guidelines, and continue to promote the PFC ability training of military health personnel, thereby further improving the military's medical support force and pre-hospital rescue level.