The experience of medical support for the Soviet troops in Afghanistan and the problems of the further development of military medicine
Nechaev, E.A.
Voenno-Meditsinskii Zhurnal 1992(4-5): 5-14
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0026-9050 PMID: 1523814 Document Number: 394349
In 1979-1988 during the combat actions in Afghanistan the medical losses of Soviet troops were more than 450 thousand men (including about 50 thousand wounded and more than 400 thousand sick). The experience shows that the guarantee of successful activities of Medical Service is a high level of its mobilization and combat readiness especially at the initial period of war. The main criterion which determines the Medical Service effectiveness is a number of sick and wounded who were recovered for active service. In Afghanistan this index was 77.9% for wounded and 89.0% for sick. The opportune character of Medical Service is a decisive factor for the successful outcome of treatment for all categories of patients. The article describes the factors that determine the effectiveness of Medical Service and basic principles of medical support of troops. The author cites the perspective trends for the further scientific researches in various fields of military medicine.