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File: 123096_sep96_decls2_0036.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
satisfactory communications link to the hospital ships or the inventory to meet all
their requirements.
Although FH-5 deployed with 30 days of class VIE materials, 80 percent of its
supplies were nominally expired. A month after @ving in theater, FH-5 received
information from the shelf-life extension program identifying supplies that were still
usable. LTItimately, about 40 percent of the supplies were not salvageable. PH-15,
the newest hospital, also had a significant percentage of nominally expired supplies.
In addition, the FHSO failed to push the 30-day supply block to FH-5 but did meet
that requirement for the other two facilities.
FH-5 began using the NEDSOM for medical resupply in early October and
experienced fill rates of 40 to 60 percent. To compensate for these initial low fill
rates, FH-5 used NSC Norfolk, with the assistance of the FHSO and the fleet hospi-
tal program manager for logistics (PMI,500). Delivery times fmm NSC Norfolk
averaged 15 clays for standard items and between 45 and 60 days for rionstan@d
items. FH-5 installed the Theater Army Medical Management Information System
(T S) in early November to improve communications with the MEDSOM. As
the NEDSOM capabilities grew, the fill rate increased to 80 to 90 percent, and, in
mid December, NEDSOM became the main source of PH-5 class VIII resupply. PH-5
reduced their use of other class VIII supply sources to backorder and for nonstan-
dard requisitions.
The SIM concept was more difficult to implement for the hospital ships for
several reasons. First, SIM stockage is based on the DEPMEDS concept, which
dization of medical and nonmedical materiel for
field medical facilities. The hospital ships' equipment and supply lists were drawn
up separately. In addition, the hospital ships offer more capabilities than any other
land-based facilities. These capabilities require specialized items not included in
DEPMEDS. As a result, the SIM carried only 30 percent of the class VIII medical
items needed by the hospital ships. Only 700 of the 1,825 class VIII items consid-
ered critical for hospital ship operations were carried by the MEDSOM.
The problems associated with SIM support of the hospital ships were exacer-
bated by the lack of hospital-ship communication @ with the MEDSOM and the
lack of a hospital-ship automated supply system that could be directly linked with
T S. The hospital ships attempted to remedy these deficiencies by establishing
a shore-based detachment in Bahrain in early January to work with the SIM and to
store and coordinate movement of follow-on resupply.
-27-
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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