Monitoring

Abstract

During a discussion I was having about near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) derived tissue oximetry, an expert surgeon who has written a lot about NIRS, asked, “If we could have the perfect patient monitor, what would it look like? It would be non-invasive. It would be continuous. It would be reliable. It would be inexpensive, so you could use it repeatedly on anyone and everyone. It would tell us information that we couldn’t figure out on our own. And it would not only tell us that something was wrong, it would tell us WHAT was wrong so we’d know what to do about it.”

Deployment Experience:

Alec C. Beekley Staff Surgeon, 102nd Forward Surgical Team, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, 2002–2003

Chief of Surgery, 912th Forward Surgical Team, Al Mussayib, Iraq, 2004

Staff Surgeon, 31st Combat Support Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, 2004

Director, Combat Casualty Research Team, 28th Combat Support Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, 2007

Jay Johannigman Deputy Commander, 332nd EMEDDS, Talil Air Base, Iraq, 2003

CCATT Team Member, Balad Air Base, Balad, Iraq, 2005

Deputy Commander, 332nd Air Force Theater Hospital, Balad, Iraq, 2006

Trauma Czar, 332nd Air Force Theater Hospital, Balad, Iraq, 2008