New military medicine institute set up at AMC Lucknow to research on combat medical support

“There are several lessons from conflicts like the Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas war and others globally. Hence, we will analyse data and insights to initiate pilot research studies in the field. The aim is to leverage this knowledge and provide combat medical services to our troops and further enhance the well-being of our soldiers,” Lt Gen Daljit Singh said.

“Wherever our troops are located there are field hospitals. Presently there are 99 field hospitals. Now, in case of a combat casualty, salvaging the soldier in the first golden hour is important. We are trying to train each one of our soldiers about this important golden hour and how they should take care of themselves and their buddy soldier in the event of an injury,” the DGAFMS said.

Steps are underway to train soldiers on how best to use the first aid kit that the soldier can carry to take care of emergencies like bleeding due to haemorrhage, or other medical conditions like airway obstruction and how to administer antibodies to manage pain, he said. “We are also looking at a model where a mobile surgical team can attend immediately to the injured soldier and life saving surgeries can take place,” he said

The DGAFMS was in Pune as the chief guest at a ceremony where 112 medical graduates of the 58th batch of Armed Forces Medical College were commissioned into the Indian Armed Forces. A total of 147 medical cadets, including five foreign nationals, graduated from the college. A total of 88 were commissioned into the Army, 10 joined the Indian Navy and 14 joined the Indian Air Force.

The DGAFMS reviewed the commissioning parade that was commanded by medical cadet (now Lieutenant) Sushil Kumar Singh. On the occasion, the President’s gold medal and Kalinga trophy were awarded to Flying Officer Ayush Jaiswal and Aishwarya Ramakrishnan Aiyer, respectively.

Lt Gen Singh further spoke about AFMS collaborations with IITs and ICMR. Recently, the Armed Forces Medical Services announced tie-ups with IITs at Delhi, Kanpur, Roorkee, Mumbai and the Indian Council of Medical Research. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between AFMS and ICMR for joint efforts in the field of biomedical research to address multidisciplinary scientific and health problems.

The MoU with the IITs was also signed for undertaking joint research and innovation towards solving health issues specific to serving soldiers in different terrains.

“The priority of the armed forces is to ensure the well-being of the troops. They could be stationed at high altitudes or desert areas and exposed to cold and hot climatic conditions. Our focus is to engage in research with our collaborators to look at models where we can predict which soldier is likely to develop problems and what medical interventions can be taken to address them,” he said.

“We will have an interchange of faculty and students and activities will be coordinated by institute-specific nodal teams,” he added.

On the proposal for AFMC to get the status of an institute of national importance, the DGAFMS said the process is underway. “However, we do not want the structure to be altered and the AFMC will continue to remain under the control of the DGAFMS and the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. We do not want to become a deemed university,” he added.