Health surveillance: an operational imperative?
Many recent operations have highlighted the problem of hazard exposure in troops. This is a difficult area since it depends upon both post-deployment and possibly mid-deployment health surveillance and crosses the traditional limits of occupation and public health medicine. Health surveillance is itself a term which straddles occupational and public health medicine. For the military population at risk on operations, a combined approach is required incorporating the separate activities of needs and risk assessments. There is an existing vehicle to develop this approach using the new J95 methodology. Equally, a system of data access crossing medical and personnel records is necessary. The important requirement is that health surveillance is included in pre-deployment planning. Only by this method can adequate resources and significance be accorded to appropriate health surveillance strategies both during and following an operation as required.
Hawley
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Royal Defence Medical College, Horton Block, Gosport, Hants.
D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000379:methods; D008889:Military Personnel; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012308:Risk Management