A new perspective on life-saving procedures in a battlefield setting: Emergency cricothyroidotomy, needle thoracostomy, and chest tube thoracostomy with night vision goggles.

BACKGROUND: In the patients with multiple and serious trauma, early applications of life-saving procedures are related to improved survival. We tried to experimentally determine the feasibility of life-saving interventions that are performed with the aid of night vision goggles (NVG) in nighttime combat scenario.

METHODS: Chest tube thoracostomy (CTT), emergency cricothyroidotomy (EC), and needle thoracostomy (NT) interventions were performed by 10 combatant medical staff. The success and duration of interventions were explored in the study. Procedures were performed on the formerly prepared manikins/models in a bright room and in a dark room with the aid of NVG. Operators graded the ease of interventions.

RESULTS: All interventions were found successful. Operators stated that both CTT and EC interventions were more difficult in dark than in daytime (p<0.05). No significant difference was observed in the difficulty in the NT interventions. No significant difference was observed in terms of completion times of interventions between in daytime and in dark scenario.

CONCLUSION: The operators who use NVGs have to be aware of that they can perform their tactic and medical activities without taking off the NVGs and without the requirement of an extra light source.