Battle Casualties and Medical Statistics

Medical planners must have statistics and factors from previous conflictsto forecast future requirements. Medical statistics for World War II havebeen recorded for future guidance, but the statistics for the Korean Conflicthave not heretofore been placed in a readily available reference book.Therefore, this volume has been prepared to provide the medical plannerwith essential information related to the statistics, such as the typeof operation, lethality of weapons, and location of wounds.

Medical planning factors and statistics based on actual experience arean absolute necessity in the preparation and justification of Army MedicalDepartment resources to support contingency plans. Furthermore, data ofthis nature are one of the key elements utilized in automated force planningsystems since they provide the foundation for estimating Army Medical Departmentunits, hospital construction, evacuation requirements, and replacementsfor a theater of operation.

Of major significance is the inclusion in this volume of revised methodologywhich may be utilized to compute Army Medical Department hospitalizationunits and related resource requirements. This methodology will providea common basis for estimating medical workload which may be applied byall planners. Included in the methodology for the first time is an approachfor estimating mobile beds required in the field army area. Therefore,with the information contained in this document, a, planner has a methodwhich may be employed to estimate hospitalization workload in the FieldArmy, Conununications Zone, and continental United States, either as anintegrated system or as independent areas.

It behooves us to learn from past experience and apply lessons learnedin preparing and planning for military operations or contingencies of thefuture. Therefore, I commend this volume to Army Medical Department plannersand believe the information will be an invaluable tool.

HAL B. JENNINGS, Jr., M.D.,
Lieutenant General,
The Surgeon General.