Emergency Medical Care in a Backpack

Emergency Medical Care in a Backpack

Researchers have created a backpack that has a computer and medicines in it that can help even untrained soldiers save the lives of wounded troops.

Wounded soldiers have a better chance of survival¹ if they get help soon after being hurt and are quickly taken to a hospital or clinic.

But soldiers who do not have medical training may not know how to help their injured friends.

Doctors and engineers have developed what they call an “intelligent backpack.” It has a computer and electronic measuring devices. The backpack also has robotic instruments and medicines ready to give to injured troops.

About 16 doctors and engineers from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and several other places are working on the project. The U.S. Department of Defense² has given money to the project.

Ron Poropatich leads the project. He is a retired³ Army surgeon. He says the backpack will help soldiers care for those who are injured. The devices included in the backpack can monitor a person’s heart rate and blood pressure, he says. The robotic instruments can even tell whether the soldier has a collapsed⁴ lung.

“You can then assess the individual’s heart rate, blood pressure, and have soft robotics collars with imaging devices in the neck that would tell me where the, the trachea is located, and have soft robotics with embedded⁵ sensors⁶ that tell me whether the lung is collapsed or not, have needles in areas where I would want to insert as the casualty⁷ is taken from the highway or the battlefield onto a helicopter.”

The intelligent backpack’s computer can compare information gathered about the injured soldier with thousands of similar cases, and quickly tell the best methods to use to save the soldier’s life.

Dr. Poropatich says scientists working on the project are trying to use the smallest possible devices.

“Can we put it on an iPhone, and can we have wires from the iPhone go onto the casualty?”

Sometimes, it is not always possible to quickly remove the injured soldier from the battlefield. So, Dr. Poropatich says, the researchers hope to create a backpack that will have devices that can keep a soldier alive for a long time.

“We will do a precision airdrop and drop in a backpack full of this miniaturized equipment easily inserted on the casualty and now monitoring it and then shooting a signal straight up to an unmanned vehicle that allows me to transport that signal to someone else to get a second opinion consult. That is all science fiction right now, but it’s at the point of very serious discussions with serious interest from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.”

Dr. Poropatich hopes the backpack and its instruments will be ready for testing on animals in about three years.

Words in This Story

assess – v. to make a judgment⁸ about (something)

trachea – n. a long tube in the neck and chest that carries air into and out of the lungs

embedded – adj. placed or set in something else

1 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

6 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

7 casualty   

n.严重伤亡事故，伤亡人员，受害者

参考例句：

• Mr.Jones was the first casualty of the firm's cut-backs.琼斯先生在公司裁员中是第一个受害者。
• Casualty lists were published the day after the train accident.伤亡名单在火车意外事故的第二天就公布了。

8 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。