Veteran and Military Health Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT
In 2021, approximately 70% of U.S. service members who died by suicide did so with a firearm, most commonly a personal, rather than military-issued, firearm. National leaders and public health experts, including the White House in January 2024, have encouraged approaches to promote secure storage of home firearms. Researchers are now interested in who is the most effective messenger to encourage secure storage.
Medicine Climate Science Veteran and Military Health COMBAT
The constant change in climate and increasing need for medical personnel on military battlefields across the globe opens opportunity for new research on medical care in extreme temperatures. Research collaborators working with the University of Colorado Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research are helping to improve the future of combat care with revolutionary research on arctic medicine.
Veteran and Military Health Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT
With Colorado home to six military bases, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has become a hub for active-duty medical students, fellows, and collaborators. With a commitment to providing a supportive learning and work environment, the CU Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research has grown its research scholar and fellow programs along with supporting active-duty and National Guardsman research collaborators.
Research COMBAT Global Trauma Network
Last month, the Cape-Colorado-Combat (C3) Global Trauma Network received two research grants totaling $4.7 million from the United States Department of Defense (DoD). One study will assess how timing of wound care and antibiotics impact infectious complications and multi-organ failure in patients with high-risk injuries. The second will assess timing of critical interventions in patients with life-threatening bleeding from trauma, known as hemorrhagic shock. Both four-year projects will build on the C3 Network’s decade-long experience in collaboratively studying injured patients in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Veteran and Military Health ATLAS COMBAT Global Trauma Network
Last Thursday, the University of Colorado Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research hosted United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Lester Martínez-López, MD, MPH, on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Community Veteran and Military Health Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz
Preventing suicide among military service members and their family members is one of the top priorities for the United States Department of Defense (DoD). The 2021 DoD Annual Suicide Report found that 70% of suicides among service members are enacted with a firearm, as are 60% of suicides among service member spouses.
ATLAS Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT Global Trauma Network
Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine continue to inform medical practice on military battlefields and provide time-sensitive solutions. Faculty in the CU Department of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, Department of Anesthesiology, and their research teams are leading a myriad of projects to improve care for critically ill, trauma, and burn patients, as well as investigating mental health and resiliency care for military communities.
Press Coverage Veteran and Military Health COMBAT
The University of Colorado Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research and the El Pomar Foundation this week held a joint event to showcase the center’s research and mission to save and improve lives on the battlefield and at home.
For patients with severe respiratory failure, tracheal intubation is a life-saving procedure. Health care providers perform intubation in critical care settings using one of two devices: direct or video laryngoscopes.
Research Veteran and Military Health COMBAT
Following worldwide concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on mental health, Ian Stanley, PhD, assistant research professor of emergency medicine in the CU School of Medicine and psychological health lead for the Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research, began investigating whether the pandemic impacted military veterans differently than non-veterans.
Kathleen Flarity, DNP, associate clinical professor of emergency medicine and deputy director for the Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research, was interviewed about her work in military resiliency research on MarketScale's Holistic Leadership podcast.
Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT
The University of Colorado School of Medicine has officially launched the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative, bringing CU Anschutz experts together to serve as a trusted community and national resource for firearms-related research and solutions.
On Monday, the Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research welcomed NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, MD, to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where he presented at a distinguished leader seminar on “The Challenges of Medical Care in Space: A Perspective From Low Earth Orbit and the Future of Human Spaceflight."
Veteran and Military Health COMBAT
According to the 2020 Department of Defense (DoD) Annual Suicide Report, approximately 60%-80% of suicides among service members are enacted with a firearm. The DoD and other stakeholders recommend lethal means safety counseling (LMSC), a type of intervention intended to reduce firearm suicide risk among military service members.
Research Veteran and Military Health ATLAS Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT
On Wednesday, The Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research hosted leaders from Uniformed Services University (USU) on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus for a research affiliation agreement ceremony to highlight the continued research partnership between USU and the CU School of Medicine.
Research Press Releases Community Faculty Veteran and Military Health Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has identified firearm suicide prevention as a key priority, but critical gaps remain in preventing deaths by firearm among service members. According to the 2020 DoD Annual Suicide Report, approximately 60-80% of suicides among service members are enacted with a firearm.
Research Community ATLAS Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT TRIAD
U.S. Rep. Jason Crow visited the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus on Monday to learn more about current programs and research on the campus that address the U.S. military’s medical needs, including solutions in combat casualty care, critical and emergency care, surgical trauma, and acute mental health. The Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research hosted the visit that included additional CU leadership and research groups for a supportive discussion on current military medical challenges.
Research Community Firearm Injury Prevention COMBAT
On Veterans Day, we honor those who serve and have served in the U.S. military. For two University of Colorado School of Medicine researchers, Veterans Day is also a time to reflect on the importance of mental health support for veterans at risk for suicide. Through intervention strategies and close collaboration with veterans and clinicians, they are working on strategies and tactics to prevent veteran suicides by firearm.
Mental health experts say locals responding to Hurricane Ian need to watch for signs of PTSD. “First responders’ instinct is going to be to help other people. It’s in their training, it’s in their character, and it’s really important they take stock of their own stress levels and mental health and lean on each other for support,” Stanley said.
The focus on providing care for those on the front lines continues to grow with more investments in research to improve care for service members on battlegrounds. That research was on full display at this year’s Military Health Science Research Symposium (MHSRS), hosted by the Department of Defense (DOD), where researchers and faculty members from the University of Colorado Department of Emergency Medicine presented new scientific findings.
Dr. Bebarta was awarded a highly competitive NIH R21 research grant to study the use of thiosulfate for chlorine gas exposures, which can cause deadly respiratory symptoms in military or industrial exposures.
Research Press Coverage COMBAT
“We say we are working on solving the Department of Defense’s toughest clinical problems so it benefits the service members,” service member and UCHealth Doctor Vik Bebarta said. Bebarta also leads the CU Anschutz COMBAT Center. “We also want to benefit our Colorado community as a whole.”
Kathleen Flarity, DNP, PhD, the Deputy Director of the COMBAT Center, was recently promoted to the Rank of Brigadier General and will serve as the interim Command Surgeon for the US Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC).
AMC is one of the largest commands in the US military, and oversees a budget of $781M with $1.6B in assets in support of 6,250 personnel to lead en route combat casualty care for the future battlefield. She is the first woman to hold this senior leadership position.
Out of over 1700 national applicants, Dr. (Captain) Mackenzie Shribbs, MD, and MPH candidate at the University of Colorado, was recently named a Pat Tillman Foundation Scholar. Dr. Shribbs is a current US Air Force Active Duty physician, as well as Faculty and a Global Emergency Medicine and Public Health Fellow in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado, Anschutz. As part of her Fellowship training she is helping to support the work of the Global Emergency Collaborative Initiative at the University of Colorado (GECI) and is actively pursuing her Masters of Public Health through the Colorado School of Public Health.
This scholarship, named in honor of former NFL and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, will further support Dr. Shribbs’ global and public health work. Her decision to pursue advanced training in global emergency care is based on extensive prior international experiences. She deployed to Niger as the sole physician in an austere military outpost to provide care to U.S. Special Forces, coalition forces, and local civilians as part of the Tactical Critical Care Evacuation Team. She has also provided medical care in Ghana, India, Ireland, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
Once her studies are complete Dr. Shribbs intends to return to active duty with the US Air Force —having taken what she’s learned at the University of Colorado and the Department of Emergency Medicine to advance public health at an international level in a responsible and efficient manner while still maintaining global security. She aims to lead US military global health programs, make a positive footprint worldwide in the operational setting, and strategically highlight the important role public health has within security.
About the Pat Tillman Foundation
Pat Tillman was a former NFL player for the Arizona Cardinals, who left the NFL to join the Army Rangers soon after 9/11. The Pat Tillman Foundation (PTF) is named in honor of Pat Tillman who died in combat. The PTF supports academic scholarships for future world-class American military leaders from healthcare to business and policy. These scholars are making a difference in the fields of healthcare, business, public service, STEM, education and the humanities.
Dr. Mackensie Shribbs’ work is sponsored by the following University organizations, to learn more please visit the following:
Dr. Bebarta shares his philosophy and principles as a leader in the Department of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Bebarta shares his philosophy and reason for choosing Emergency Medicine as a career. The ACEP video takes us through an interview with Dr. Bebarta and a day in the life of his work in the emergency room.
Join Dan & Howard as they chat with Dr. Vik Bebarta and learn about cyanide infused bacon, hydrogen sulfide, detergent suicide, military teletoxicology and the variety of antidotes and therapies to make you well. Chock full of smoky goodness, this is a delightful listen for your holiday weekend.
"As an American Emergency Physician with over 14 years' active duty in the US Air Force and four combat deployments, I have treated a myriad of military and civilian victims including those from chemical weapons. I have in fact seen and treated virtually every type of war and civilian injury but nothing is quite a jarring as caring for someone burned by chlorine or choked by a toxic gas." - Vik Bebarta, MD, professor, emergency medicine- medical toxicology and pharmacology
Lt. Col. Vik Bebarta, who served as a military doctor in Afghanistan, Iraq and Jordan has treated troops exposed to chemical weapons. He's now at the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus researching an antidote to chemical exposure.
A doctor from the 59th Medical Wing received multiple honors recently for his research in treating wounded service members.
Lt. Col. (Dr.) Vikhyat Bebarta, the director of the 59th MDW En Route Care Research Center (ECRC) and chief of medical toxicology at the San Antonio Military Medical Center on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, was notified he will receive the Air Force Association's 2014 Paul W. Myers award and the National Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Basic Science award for his contributions to medicine.
Fox 31 | Channel 2
April 02, 2024
Benjamin Li, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine and emergency medicine physician with Denver Health, spoke with FOX31 about the importance of safe firearm storage.
The Atlantic
April 02, 2024
Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, professor of emergency medicine and director of the CU Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative, was interviewed by The Atlantic regarding physicians asking patients about access to firearms and counseling them toward responsible storage.
9News
April 01, 2024
Chris Knoepke, PhD, MSW, assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and law enforcement lead for the CU Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative, was first author on a recent study published by JAMA Network Open. He is leading research on ERPO usage, especially in Colorado's Second Amendment Sanctuaries.
NPR
March 28, 2024
CU Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative Director Emmy Betz MD MPH, professor of emergency medicine, was a guest on on NPR's "The Middle with Jeremy Hobson" radio show.
Colleen Miracle
