News Release

For Immediate Release -- May 1, 2009

Army Veteran Invents Bleeding System For Wound Training

(Fort Detrick, Md.) - Up to 50% of casualties who die on the battlefield do so as the result of severe blood loss, the treatment of which requires the administration of red blood cells, plasma, and platelets or their substitutes.

Army medics learn to treat wounded warriors during Combat Medic Training at Fort Sam Houston.

Army veteran Sgt. Lynn Randall King felt the existing training tools didn't recreate the stress and difficulty of real life hemorrhage control in the field.

King was an Army medic trainer when he created the Field Expedient Bleeding Simulation System.

The Army prototypes simulate several concurrent wounds, either mild or severe, from a venal nick to a pulsing arterial hemorrhage. Units are suited for retrofitting of typical mannequins already in use, or the systems can be worn by personnel in a role-playing exercise.

SKEDCO, Inc. of Tualatin Ore. has commercialized FEBSS so medical responders learn how to treat bleeding wounds in the field.

Commercial devices resulting from the license of this Army technology, which is the subject of several U.S. provisional patent applications, were enhanced under a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement between SKEDCO and the Army. Both agreements were negotiated by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's Office of Research and Technology Applications.

Early on, Col. Patricia Hastings, former director of the Department of Combat Medic Training at Fort Sam Houston, demonstrated the use of the FEBSS in hemorrhage control classes due to the realism it offers. She is now the director of the Emergency Medical Technicians.

"It adds a realism that even the higher fidelity mannequin cannot offer when placed on a real human. There is an added degree of surprise because one knows the manikin will bleed and the student knows this. The 'actor' with the device is unexpected and makes the student react in ways that are more realistic. The device is light, can be remotely activated and simulate one or more areas of hemorrhage which adds to any scenario. Compared to the mannequin it is very inexpensive, offers quality training, can be "reset" faster for more training and relatively indestructible," said Hastings.

Since its commercialization in the spring of 2008, FEBSS has been purchased by numerous military and civilian medic training organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

Training realism can help the medics prepare for what may be a shocking first sight for some, preparing them to take appropriate action with minimal delay in the line of duty. Effective training is especially important given that a high percentage of fatalities and disabilities result from delays in effective hemorrhage control.

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The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command is the Army's medical materiel developer, with lead agency responsibility for medical research, development and acquisition, medical logistics management, medical information management/information technology and medical health facility planning.

The mission of the congressionally mandated Office of Research and Technology Applications is to assure the transfer of federally owned or originated technology to the nonfederal sector for approval and manufacture and to optimize all opportunities for WRAIR investigators to collaborate with the private sector.

The mission of the U.S. Army Medical Department is to produce concepts, doctrine and organizational structure that meet force requirements; conduct individual training, Soldierization, specialized/functional skills, and leadership development which provides the appropriate skill sets to DOD, non-DOD, and Allied Soldiers and leaders; create training strategies, products, and programs and make them available; consult and collaborate with internal and external agencies and commands in matters of common interest.