Combat medics work in some of the most difficult environments imaginable. Loud, chaotic, dusty, dirty, and often dangerous, with limited resources and the risk of shrapnel from explosion and bullets breaking near the point of care. Even under these extreme circumstances, combat medics are able to bring vital, life-saving care to soldiers on the field.

Aside from the challenges of working on a battlefield, combat medics must also cope with minimal resources at times. Providing care can be a challenge as wounded soldiers may be far from proper medical services and resources, and the trauma can often exceed the skill set of the assigned medic or soldiers in the field.

Hippo Technologies™ is working to support combat medics and soldiers to bring real-time access to the care they need, when and where they need it. Hippo’s hands-free voice-activated, head-worn tablet and Virtual Care Platform can bring the clinical specialist to the battlefield, no matter the distance or danger.

Bringing emergency medical treatment to the battlefield

Combat medics are highly trained to handle medical trauma in stressful situations. At times though, that trauma can outstrip even their medical skills and expert support is needed. Hippo’s head-worn tablet allows combat medics to instantly connect with other medical experts around the world, providing a first-hand view of the scene and instantly sending vital information to distant care facilities. With this technology, combat medics are no longer on their own but can utilize the skills of others to assess patients in the field and provide expert care no matter the situation.

The voice-activated technology keeps medics’ hands free to provide necessary care, guided by visual and audio information from experts. Video support can help medics quickly assess casualties and provide over-the-shoulder expert guidance to the combat medic on the scene.

According to Army medic Ronald Wolf, more limbs and lives could be saved if battlefield medics had a direct connection to surgeons or medical centers. Additionally, virtual health on the battlefield is a top priority for Army Medicine. Major General Robert Tenhet stated that, “Taking care of beneficiaries is easy if we can meet the needs on the battlefield.”

Better triage in the field and inpatient care

Often, combat medics’ first goal is to triage and stabilize soldiers for transportation to a Combat Support Hospital (CSH) or Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH). Sharing real-time images of soldiers better equips the care facility to prepare for incoming trauma and helps triage not only on the field but also in the treatment center — allowing them to prepare and have everything ready before the wounded soldier even arrives.

Hands-free instructions received by combat medics will help save more lives, enabling them to focus on the critical task at hand while receiving and transmitting vital information.

Combat lifesaving and first responder training courses

All soldiers know the importance of proper training. Hippo’s Virtual Care Platform can bring down costs while providing an immersive learning experience — better preparing soldiers for real-world medical combat situations.

Virtual learning also gives soldiers overseas the chance to learn from experts back home, keeping their skills up to date and advancing their medical techniques and knowledge. Hippo’s head-mounted device allows skilled clinicians to simultaneously provide training and continuing medical education to combat medics around the world. The head-worn tablet’s high-quality camera allows trainees to videoconference in and see from the expert’s point of view as if they were in the room with them. Additionally, it gives students the chance to receive real-time guidance as experts provide instruction through Hippo’s two-way videoconferencing. These sessions can be recorded and accessed at scale any time, allowing soldiers to review their skillsets at leisure.

Saving lives with virtual care

Combat medics are highly skilled at providing battlefield medical care, and Combat Support and Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals save soldiers’ lives every day. The addition of virtual care gives combat medics and army medical personnel another tool to save even more soldiers and bring them home to their families.

Hippo’s hands-free voice-activated, head-worn tablet has a rugged, combat-ready design that supports Eye Pro. It is dust tight and water resistant (IP66 rating), can survive a 2-meter drop onto concrete, and the rechargeable batteries provide continuous use. The plug and play installation and remote set-up allow for quick and easy deployment. And the system can integrate with third-party applications, making it future-proof and allowing for endless integrations to fit combat-needs.