Health Data from Operation Resolute (Bosnia). Part 1: Primary Care Data

Abstract

Primary care data were collected and analysed through an HQ ARRC epidemiological surveillance system which encompassed all British personnel in theatre. There was a total of 17,054 primary care consultations in the British force, which at its peak in late January numbered 10,832 personnel. 11,472 of these consultations were due to disease (67% of the total) and 5568 to non-battle injury (32% of the total). The observed rate of sickness due to disease was close to the predicted rate, which was 1.35% of the force per day. The observed rate of sickness due to non-battle injury was between 6 and 10 times higher than the predicted rate of 0.05% of the force per day. There were only 14 primary care consultations due to battle injury.

An outbreak of rubella in British troops in Bosnia

“…This small outbreak of rubella in British troops in Bosnia had the potential to spread very widely throughout the multinational force in the region, and could have had serious operational implications. The fact that this did not happen demonstrates the importance of good microbiology laboratory support during military operations, and the value of an effective system of medical surveillance [3]. It may also reflect the thoroughness of the public health control measures that were imposed at the very start of the outbreak, even though the isolation of rubella cases on admission may not be of major benefit in preventing transmission, because the greater part of the infectious period occurs before symptoms develop [13].…”

“…All British medical officers in Bosnia-Herzegovina were contacted by signal on 13 April, with instructions that they should maintain a high degree of clinical vigilance for rubella infection. Any suspected cases were to be reported in the free-text section of a daily medical surveillance system known as ARRC 97, which was in place in all British primary care facilities [3]. Medical officers were advised to isolate any patient presenting with a maculopapular rash, and to submit at least one serum specimen for determination of rubella IgM antibody levels.…”

Op HERRICK Primary Care Casualties: The Forgotten Many

“…Primary care on the battlefield can be considered to be all medical care that takes place up until evacuation from forward locations; in Afghanistan this is primarily at forward operating bases (FOBs). Primary care on the frontline has always been, and remains, an area with poor data capture making research difficult [1,2]. However, once patients are returned to the UK each individual's medical care pathway is captured by the Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA), Health, but until now this information has not been analysed in this context.…”