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File: 123096_sep96_decls2_0010.txt
Subject: MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM 9 NOV 91
Unit: VAR. BUMED
Parent Organization: BUMED
Box ID: BX303801
Folder Title: VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6
Document Number: 2
Folder Seq #: 10
INTRODUCTION
The mission of operational medical and dental support units in wartime is to
provide the treatment necessary to sustain the combat effort of the operating forces.
Accomplishing this mission requires the prevention and treatment of disease, the
expeditious return to duty of injured or wounded combat personnel, and the mini-
mization of mortality and morbidity in those who cannot be quickly returned to
duty. Although Operation Desert Shield/Storm did not significantly stress the
casualty care system, the operation showed that the Navy is capable of quickly
deploying significant medical capability to a theater and contributing to health
maintenance and the prevention and treatment ol' disease for deployed personnel.
Desert Shield/Storm offers the Navy the opportunity to assess the soundness of
the basic concepts underlying current medical planning, the adequacy of resources
to implement these plans, and the effectiveness with which the system executed the
plans. This report describes the medical support system established under
COMUSNAVCENT and documents significant lessons learned from this operation.
Although casualties were low, the deployment of significant medical capability
identified some important gaps in the planning process. Of particular importance
are gaps that require interservice coordination. This report attempts to provide a
comprehensive list of problems. Had casualties been higher, the theater support
system would undoubtedly have responded to remedy some or all of the observed
deficiencies, In most cases, medical personnel in theater developed partial solutions
to them.
During Desert Shield/Storm, the Navy deployed three 500-bed combat-zone fleet
hospitals and two hospital ships, which were ultimately staffed to provide
1,000 beds each. Other medical capability resided on the amphibious assault ships
that have a secondary mission as casualty receiving and treatment ships (CRTSs).
Over 5,500 active-duty and 2,600 selected reserve (SELRES) medical personnel
deployed to staff the fleet hospitals, hospital ships, CRTSS, organic Marine Corps
medical units, and host-nation facilities. Table 1 contains a chronology of the
deployment and operations of Navy medical department assets. The appendix
provides a more complete chronology.
The Navy deployed a preventive medicine team to the theater to identify
infectious diseases and monitor water, sewage, and food supply systems for health
threats. The Navy also established a forward diagnostic laboratory that early on
detected epidemic diarrheal agents, preventing a major outbreak of disease through
-1-
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Document 57 f:/Week-37/BX303801/VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6/medical operations during operation desert storm:1217961126393
Control Fields 17
File Room = sep96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-37
Box ID = BX303801
Unit = VAR. BUMED
Parent Organization = BUMED
Folder Title = VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6
Folder Seq # = 10
Subject = MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM
Document Seq # = 2
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 17-DEC-1996