Medicina expedicionária: perspectivas atuais da cadeia de evacuação de feridos da Força de Desembarque nas operações anfíbias da Marinha do Brasil

Abstract

Amfphibious Operations, the most complex of military operations, require great logistical effort in order to provide various means and resources indispensable to the Forces, at the appropriate time and place, in the necessary quantity and quality, and regardless of the circumstances imposed. One of the most challenging aspects is undoubtedly the health support of troops. Expeditionary Medicine is the branch of Military Medicine that seeks to solve this logistical problem in military expeditions, and particularly with the Brazilian Marine Corps, an expeditionary force par excellence. On this subject, the study begins with a brief description of amphibious operations in the Brazilian Navy, with emphasis on the development of logistic support of the Landing Force. This explanation is intended to facilitate the understanding of the chain of evacuation of wounded from this Force, explained in sequence, based on the current doctrinal and normative publications that address the subject, including the roles of care, logistics medical facilities, and the dynamics from the initial moments of landing to the evolution of operations on the ground. The current prospects of the chain of evacuation of wounded have been researched from publications by the United States Marine Corps and the United States Army, the Israel Defense Forces, and military alliance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, foreign armed forces with recent combat experience and high level of training, which took part in numerous military exercises on all continents and operational environments. By analyzing the current chain of evacuation of wounded from the Landing Force, medical facilities and its concept of employment, in amphibious operations of the Brazilian Navy, addressing the Advanced Trauma Unit, the Expeditionary Medical Unit and the newly incorporated multipurpose surface vessels, such as the Landing Platform Dock (LPD) Bahia and the Helicopter Carrier Atlântico, and also, compared to the information obtained from the foreign armed forces researched, it became possible to discuss the changes to be implemented in the current doctrine, aiming the mitigation of possible obstacles and contributing to the development of capabilities, such as self-aid and tactical care, en route care and forward resuscitative care that ultimately will save increasingly more human lives in combat.