30th Medical Brigade advances mobile surgical care with M1087 prototype

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany - Soldiers with the 30th Medical Brigade are rethinking how surgical care moves on the battlefield, using a prototype M1087 expandable van to turn a traditionally static medical setup into a faster, more mobile and more survivable surgical platform for large-scale combat operations.

The prototype gives the 67th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment a mobile alternative to its traditional tent-based surgical setup, allowing the team to establish surgical capability faster and displace as the fight moves.

The prototype reduces setup time from approximately two hours to about 30 minutes and allows the team to displace in approximately 15 to 20 minutes, according to U.S. Army Maj. Nicholas Cylas. The platform also features two operating room beds and gives the team greater self-reliance.

The effort places the 30th Medical Brigade at the leading front of innovation in Army medicine, according to Cylas.

For U.S. Army Col. Nate Forrester, commander of the 30th Medical Brigade, the prototype addresses how medical formations must adapt to the demands of large-scale combat operations.

"We've got to continue to adapt on how we fight, how we maneuver, how we protect ourselves," Forrester said. "That's exactly what the M1087 is going to be doing for us."

The surgical team traditionally relies on Army tents to establish its operating space. Soldiers must establish the tent before they can set up the surgical suite inside, adding time before the team can reach its operational capability.

The M1087 changes that process.

The team can maneuver the vehicle into position, expand it and establish the operating room while Soldiers continue setting up the rest of the detachment, according to U.S. Army Capt. Josh Hagen, a critical care nurse with the 67th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment.

"The 1087 definitely helps us move faster," Hagen said. "It is a quicker teardown, a quicker setup. It allows us to maneuver into positions that we haven't been able to before."

That mobility also supports the team's survivability.

Traditional medical tents and platforms create a larger footprint that can make medical units easier for an enemy to identify. The M1087 gives Soldiers a platform they can conceal more easily while maintaining surgical capability, according to Hagen.

During Saber Junction, the team used that smaller footprint to hide in plain sight and keep personnel safe while the enemy maneuvered around them.

Maneuver and protection remain two of the primary challenges the prototype addresses. The wheeled platform allows the surgical team to establish capability in a fraction of the time required by its traditional setup and move with the formations it supports.

That speed helps medical teams keep pace with maneuver forces instead of forcing those formations to wait for medical capability.

The platform also gives commanders more options for positioning medical support across an area of operations. Commanders can disperse surgical, damage control and resuscitative capabilities and reposition them as the tactical situation changes, according to Forrester.

That flexibility gives commanders another way to protect medical personnel and position surgical capability where they need it as the fight develops.

Inside the M1087, the team organized the surgical space around rapid movement.

Soldiers retrofitted the van with equipment on wheels and locking systems. When the team needs to move, Soldiers can secure the equipment in storage systems, move it toward the center of the vehicle, strap it down and collapse the platform, according to Hagen.

The M1087 also gives the surgical team greater self-reliance once it begins operating.

The vehicle can power itself for approximately nine hours on battery support and uses its own generation capability to recharge the batteries. The van can support one surgical patient and accommodate up to two patients within the confined space, according to Hagen.

The full team consists of 20 people who can split into two 10-person teams to provide forward resuscitative and surgical capability. The M1087 gives one of those teams a mobile surgical platform that can move as the mission changes.

The prototype also gives the brigade an opportunity to collect data and learn from the concept as Soldiers continue developing it.

The modern battlefield differs from the one the Army faced 30 years ago, creating a need for medical formations to modernize alongside the rest of the force, according to Forrester. The brigade intends to use the prototype to gather information and improve the concept as Soldiers continue operating it.

The long-term intent could eventually include six M1087s for the surgical teams, allowing them to provide the full scope of their capabilities across multiple platforms.

The concept also reflects a broader push within the brigade to give Soldiers room to identify problems and develop solutions with the resources already available to them.

"I've charged them, 'Improve your foxhole,'" Forrester said. "Make things better, make your organization better. See how we can do things faster, safer, smaller, quieter - all those things that are going to keep our people alive on this modern battlefield."

The M1087 prototype puts that challenge into practice.

By reducing setup and displacement times, increasing mobility and giving surgical teams a smaller footprint, the 30th Medical Brigade is testing a new way to keep surgical capability moving with the fight.