Two teams from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research received the 2014 Army Medicine Wolf Pack of the Year Award July 9.

The Surgeon General and the Chief of the Army Medical Department Civilian Corps created the Wolf Pack Award to recognize exceptional teamwork by an integrated group of military and civilian team members focused on excellence in support of Army Medicine. Sponsored by the AMEDD Civilian Corps, this award is intended to recognize and celebrate successes of teams throughout Army Medicine.

The award is given quarterly throughout the year. At the end of each fiscal year the four quarterly winners compete again for the overall award winner for that year. The Wolf Pack Award is currently in its fourth year. Gregg Stevens, deputy to the commanding general, Army Medical Department Center and School and AMEDD civilian corps chief, said during the ceremony that the Wolf Pack Award is very competitive.

Stevens presented the Burn Navigator Team and the Joint Trauma System Team their awards at the USAMRMC Headquarters.

"The Burn Navigator and the Join Trauma System have both made invaluable improvements in medical capability and saved lives," Stevens said during the ceremony. "The teamwork and collaboration that went into these innovations is what the Wolf Pack Award is all about."

The USAISR's mission is to provide requirements-driven combat casualty care medical solutions and products for injured Soldiers from self-aid through definitive care across the full spectrum of military operations; provide state- of-the-art trauma, burn and critical care to DOD beneficiaries around the world; and provide Burn Special Medical Augmentation Response Teams.

The USAISR Burn Navigator Team earned the award by developing a Burn Resuscitation Decision Support System to help clinicians save the lives of burn patients far forward on the battlefield. This is the first USAISR-developed device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This first-of-its-kind technology is not only a milestone in medical devices, but also provides a glimpse into the future of burn trauma management.

The co-winners, the Joint Trauma System Team, received its award for their collection and analysis of trauma data from the DOD Trauma Registry to formulate enhanced clinical practice guidelines that reduced morbidity and mortality of casualties to the lowest level in history.

The Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho notated in the Burn Navigator Team awards that their, "participation demonstrates how elements of the military health system can work together to make a difference between life and death."

Several commands contributed to the research for the Burn Navigator and Stevens presented their awards during the ceremony. Those that received an award included the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency; the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity; the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity; the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps; the USAMRMC's Combat Casualty Care Research Program; and the USAMRMC's Test Branch.