Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Cool Stuff: Angela Benedict–A Walk For The Troops 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Paracargo: GPS-guided Parachutes May Soon Drop Blood, Medical Supplies To Wounded Troops In Afghanistan
I like this, but I have to think, what took you guys so long to think it up? I mean they have already been using these types of paracargo systems for years, and just now the military is thinking about using it for medical resupply?
What really kills me is that they predict they might be up and running with the project by January? I am sorry, but this is ridiculous and so typical of how government operates. Put the stuff in a box, and drop it out of the airplane like you would with ammo, food, and water. Surround it with as much cushioning as it takes to insure it lands in one piece, but either way, get it done.
In the smokejumpers, we have been dropping medical paracargo for a long time. Stuff like oxygen bottles, IV’s and whatever else the mission required. Which is another point to bring up. If they are going to drop this kind of bundle in any kind of wooded areas, it might be wise to also have a set of tree climbing equipment that you can toss out of the aircraft as well. Maybe something that you could drop by GPS chute, and then at a certain altitude the tree climbing box is released with a small drogue keeping it straight but still allowing for speed of the bundle. That way the thing can plow through the trees to the ground.
Or if the aircraft can do a low pass, they could toss out the thing as well. In the jumpers, this is how we would do it, and those boxes would plow through the trees just so the guys on the ground could get to it for tree climbing operations. Because getting medical supplies out of a tree requires the right equipment, and you definitely do not want to keep your patient waiting because of a bundle that is hung up.
The aircraft could also just drop another medical bundle, but if that one gets hung up in the trees or gets lost in a river or destroyed by enemy fire, it will be equally problematic. So it pays to have some back up tree climbing equipment just to be prepared. That is how we did it in the smokejumpers. I realize that most of Afghanistan is not that bad tree-wise, but for those areas that guys are operating in where trees are tall enough, it is something to think about.
Another idea is to use UAV helicopters for the task. If you want to put medical supplies on the ground and with precision, use something like that. That’s if it is too dangerous or the conditions suck for manned flight into that spot.
But going back to the time frame for this. Imagine how many folks have already died, just because this capability was not in place? I say do a couple of test runs to figure out the right kind of packaging for the load, and start this program immediately. You could get this done in a week or two, and not wait until January of next year. Lives could be saved because of it. –Matt
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GPS-guided parachutes may soon drop blood, medical supplies to wounded troops in Afghanistan
By MARK PATTON
August 11, 2010
WIESBADEN, Germany — GPS-guided parachutes soon could be dropping blood supplies to medics on the battlefield, cutting down the time life-saving medical supplies reach wounded troops.
The military already uses the technology to deliver food, water and ammunition to U.S. forces in remote parts of Afghanistan. Now, the Armed Services Blood Program is working with an Army research center to put blood and other medical supplies under the parachutes instead.
If testing goes as planned, the system could be up and running by January.
Troops needing blood on the battlefield usually have to be evacuated and transported to the nearest medical facility. But evacuation is not always possible when units are under fire or if the weather prevents an emergency vehicle from traveling.
That’s when the Global Position System-guided parachutes can be a lifesaver and allow a wounded servicemember to receive blood during the critical period following an injury, said Air Force Maj. David Lincoln, Armed Services Blood Program deputy director for operations.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Kaizen: Sergey Brin’s Search For A Parkinson’s Cure, By Thomas Goetz
Bravo to Mr. Goetz for putting together such an interesting and informative article. It is one of the main reasons why I keep coming back to the stuff that Wired produces every month in hard copy and online. They bring to the front, the latest technological achievements of our time. So why does this belong on FJ?
This article is not just about this man’s desperate search for a cure for Parkinsons. This article to me is about problem solving using today’s technologies and ideas to make research more efficient, or a ‘continuous improvement’ over the traditional means of medical research. This is about creating learning organizations that far outpace older models of learning. This is some radical stuff, and the lessons can be applied to many of today’s problems in my view. We can apply these lessons to business, to energy problems, to warfare, etc.
And many of today’s problems have time stamps on them too. Any means of compressing the problem solving mechanisms we apply to these problems, the better. I also hope that Sergey does find the cure for his disease, or that his work leads to someone else finding a cure. Because I definitely think his work is compressing the time required to get to that point and that is some serious Kaizen in my book.-Matt
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Can a model fueled by data sets and computational power compete with the gold standard of research? Maybe: Here are two timelines—one from an esteemed traditional research project run by the NIH, the other from the 23andMe Parkinson’s Genetics Initiative. They reached almost the same conclusion about a possible association between Gaucher’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, but the 23andMe project took a fraction of the time.—Rachel Swaby
Traditional Model
1. Hypothesis: An early study suggests that patients with Gaucher’s disease (caused by a mutation to the GBA gene) might be at increased risk of Parkinson’s.
2. Studies: Researchers conduct further studies, with varying statistical significance.
3. Data aggregation: Sixteen centers pool information on more than 5,500 Parkinson’s patients.
4. Analysis: A statistician crunches the numbers.
5. Writing: A paper is drafted and approved by 64 authors.
6. Submission: The paper is submitted to The New England Journal of Medicine. Peer review ensues.
7. Acceptance: NEJM accepts the paper.
8. Publication: The paper notes that people with Parkinson’s are 5.4 times more likely to carry the GBA mutation.
Total time elapsed: 6 years
Parkinson’s Genetics initiative
1. Tool Construction: Survey designers build the questionnaire that patients will use to report symptoms.
2. Recruitment: The community is announced, with a goal of recruiting 10,000 subjects with Parkinson’s.
3. Data aggregation: Community members get their DNA analyzed. They also fill out surveys.
4. Analysis: Reacting to the NEJM paper, 23andMe researchers run a database query based on 3,200 subjects. The results are returned in 20 minutes.
5. Presentation: The results are reported at a Royal Society of Medicine meeting in London: People with GBA are 5 times more likely to have Parkinson’s, which is squarely in line with the NEJM paper. The finding will possibly be published at a later date.
Total time elapsed: 8 months
*****
Sergey Brin’s Search for a Parkinson’s Cure
By Thomas Goetz
June 22, 2010
Buried deep within each cell in Sergey Brin’s body—in a gene called LRRK2, which sits on the 12th chromosome—is a genetic mutation that has been associated with higher rates of Parkinson’s.Illustration: Rafa Jenn
Several evenings a week, after a day’s work at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, Sergey Brin drives up the road to a local pool. There, he changes into swim trunks, steps out on a 3-meter springboard, looks at the water below, and dives.
Brin is competent at all four types of springboard diving—forward, back, reverse, and inward. Recently, he’s been working on his twists, which have been something of a struggle. But overall, he’s not bad; in 2006 he competed in the master’s division world championships. (He’s quick to point out he placed sixth out of six in his event.)
The diving is the sort of challenge that Brin, who has also dabbled in yoga, gymnastics, and acrobatics, is drawn to: equal parts physical and mental exertion. “The dive itself is brief but intense,” he says. “You push off really hard and then have to twist right away. It does get your heart rate going.”
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Iraq: Baghdad To Cull A Million Stray Dogs
This is actually a good thing. The wild dog population in Iraq is out of control and a huge problem there. One thing for everyone to think about when you are out there is don’t be surprised if you see these guys walking around with shotguns, shooting up dogs in the streets and cities. It would be very easy to mistake these guys as the enemy or think there is some kind of firefight with all of the gun fire caused by this culling operation. It looks like they are operating in teams of four–two shooters, two vets, and possibly some police escorting them around. And this is just for Baghdad. I can’t even imagine how big the stray dog population is throughout Iraq. –Matt
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Baghdad to cull a million stray dogs as rogue canine population soars
June 11, 2010
More than a million stray dogs roaming Baghdad are facing destruction.
The initiative has so far led to 42,000 strays being killed in only two months.
Teams of riflemen and vets are trying to thin out a rogue canine population that has reached at least 1,250,000.
Numbers grew hugely after the fall of Saddam because of the lawless state of the Iraqi capital.
But with the streets now much safer, the authorities are trying to clear out the stray dogs.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Medical: Xe Contractor, Wounded In Iraq, Works To Help Others
This is a great story about a wounded contractor giving back and helping out our wounded veterans. If you would like to contact Ron, just follow the TBI link below. On his profile page, you can also see pictures of him in the hospital and with his Mamba team in Iraq.
The other thought that came to my mind, is the treatment of wounded contractors versus wounded soldiers. The amount of resources available to the wounded soldier far surpasses the resources available to a wounded contractor. What I mean by that, is family support networks and support from a soldier’s command is a given, and with the companies, it isn’t. Some companies do a good job at supporting their guys, where others fall short. That is the down side with contracting, and just expect that if you get wounded, that you will need all the help you can get from some kind of support network you can form. That is why guys like Ron are so inspirational.
You also need someone who knows how to navigate insurance and medical claims, while you are injured. When I was injured with the smokejumpers, I was assigned a nurse/advocate who did exactly that. She knew how to navigate OWCP and was there to insure I didn’t get screwed over while I was mentally ‘out of it’. Because when you are seriously injured, and especially if you have a TBI, a nurse who can help you make sound decisions about your health will be vital. If there is nothing but pain on your mind, or you can’t concentrate, a lot of stuff can get messed up unless you have someone who can watch your back. An advocate is necessary even if you don’t have TBI, just because some of the processes for getting care can be confusing at times.
Even your family life needs a support mechanism, because when you are at that level, you are in no shape to be the guy that can watch out for your family. TAPS , Special Operations Warrior Foundation or Wounded Warrior Project are networks to get a hold of, that can help contractors. Lining up some trusted friends or family to help out is another. Planning and being prepared is key, and you cannot expect the company to do this for you.
Another idea is talk it up on your contracts about what the company did for injured contractors in the past, and formulate a plan from that information. Hell, some companies like in the case with Xe, have continued to employ their wounded contractors. That is awesome and those are the little things that make a world of difference in the life of a wounded warrior, so bravo to Xe and bravo to Ron Grigsby.-Matt
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Idaho man, wounded in Iraq, works to help others
April 26, 2010
By BILL BULEY
Ron Grigsby didn’t know the man who bought him and his wife and sister drinks the night after an awards ceremony in which he was honored.
But when he went to thank him for the Coke, the man looked Grigsby in the eye and squeezed his hand.
“Bulldog, I was there that day. I watched you die,” he said.
The ever-tough Grigsby stopped, stood and stared. Then a big smile broke out and he gave the man a hug.
“He thought he’d never see me again,” Grigsby says.
The 48-year-old Hayden man did die that day in Iraq. Four times. Each time, they brought him back.
“I went down for the count that day. They had to keep jump-starting me,” he says with a little laugh. “That’s what I call it.”
Grigsby was nearly killed March 21, 2007, while working as an independent contractor for Blackwater in the Middle East. He was part of a convoy, assigned to protect a convoy, when it was hit by enemy fire. The blast threw him more than 40 feet. His helmet was caved in an inch and a half. He suffered multiple injuries that included a broken neck and a traumatic brain injury.