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.
Royal Defence Medical College, Horton Block, Gosport, Hants.
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Hawley
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