Report: P. Geschwill, F. Josse

The CMC Conference 2018

The CMC (Combat Medical Care) Conference took place for the third time on 29 and 30 June 2018 as an International Symposium on Tactical Wound Care in the context of military and police missions for medics, rescue personnel, nurses and doctors in Neu-Ulm.

Under this year's motto "who cares, wins", 1,300 participants from over 30 nations were once again offered a unique international platform on which special forces from the military and police, rescue services, disaster control and fire brigade could exchange views and share experiences on the subject of tactical medicine. At stands of more than 50 exhibitors, the participants were able to inform themselves about the latest products for the treatment of so-called "combat related injuries".

Traditionally, the legendary "CMC- get together party" took place on the first evening of the CMC Conference at the ROXY in Ulm as a social highlight. The evening was opened with a live show and live band with the presentation of two "European Best-Medic-Awards" to a Belgian SOF-Medic for his service in Iraq, as well as to an SEK official for his long-standing commitment to the training of medics in the field of police.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft Wehrmedizin und Wehrpharmazie e.V. (DGWMP) ensured the smooth running of the conference taking place every two years. The Bundeswehrkrankenhaus (BwKrhs) Ulm, in particular the Clinic for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, was responsible for the scientific programme and the technical content of the conference.

Further participants were the Ausbildungszentrum Spezielle Operationen (Training Center Special Operations) Pfullendorf, responsible for the CFR working group, and the Tactical Rescue & Emergency Medicine Association e.V. (TREMA) for the implementation of the TEMS symposium and the TREMA course.

Combat Medical Care Conference 2018

In his opening speech, Lieutenant General (ret.) Dr. Jürgen Blätzinger welcomed the participants from the civil, military and official areas of tactical medicine in his function as President of the DGWMP. What is special about the conference is the scientific programme offered to the broad spectrum of participants and the target group-oriented workshops with the highest practical relevance. The today practiced emergency medicine and its importance was largely unknown only 15 years ago and was rather a kind of hobby of medical officers and paramedics, who often had to perform their service under the difficult conditions of foreign deployment and were confronted with serious injuries there. Injuries caused by high-speed projectiles or "blast injuries" are still largely unknown in the civilian sector here today. However, the terrorist attacks in Europe since 2015 have also led to a rethinking of civilian authorities and organisations and have led to close cooperation between the military and civilian organisations.

Therefore, Lieutenant General (ret.) Dr. Blätzinger, emphasized the transfer of knowledge and experience of the medical staff and the non-medical personnel of the Bundeswehr entrusted with tactical wounded care to the civilian areas as an essential task. The expansion of the networks and the constant preparation and joint training are essential for a stringent cooperation in the future.

As commander of the BwKrhs Ulm, Dr. Hoffmann thanked on behalf of the entire team for having received the honourable commission to support this conference and to create the ambitious scientific programme. He is certain that this event with its focus on operational medicine and a balanced ratio of theoretical and practical components will again be a success this year and will undoubtedly be a valuable addition to the events of the Special Operations Medical Association (SOMA) in the United States. The aim is to bring together participants from a wide range of professions and training levels, employment agencies and countries and to find common ways of jointly fulfilling the mission of providing the best possible care for the injured in crisis and threat situations. The great interest and again the very high number of participants underline the need and necessity of this event. He is particularly pleased about the numerous visitors, also from abroad. During the two days of the conference, the range of topics covered the care of injured persons during military operations as well as terrorist attacks and natural disasters in Germany. New priorities, such as the situation in the crisis areas in Africa and the future challenges of NBC attacks, expanded the programme. Topics of the last CMC would also be consciously repeated this time in order to provide a desired "follow up" of "lessons learned" and its implementation.

As Brigadier General Dr. Hoffmann emphasized, a special highlight were the numerous practical workshops in the afternoon of the first day, which, supported by the commitment of the trainers, offer opportunities to share, refresh and supplement knowledge. For Dr. Hoffmann and his team, this conference is an excellent opportunity and also an affair of the heart to meet with many comrades and colleagues from the most diverse countries in order to tackle the tasks of the future as a joint network and to master them hand in hand as a team.

On the second day, in parallel to the scientific programme (with lectures on trauma care and emergency surgery, surgical care, training and education), four further series of lectures were offered, tailored to the various users and training levels. Police and Federal Police officers were able to meet at the TEMS Symposium (Tactical Emergency Medical Services). For all medical assistant professions (paramedics, emergency paramedics, paramedics and nursing staff), corresponding lectures were offered as part of MedAss further training. National and international CFR (Combat First Responder) and SOF (Special Operations Forces) medics were able to exchange views in the closed CFR working group, and the emergency response Bravo (EH-B) had the opportunity to repeat not only theoretical parts of the EH-B training.

Master Chief (ret.) Steve Viola, Immediate past President of SOMA (Special Operations Medical Association) from the USA, was the guest of honour at the end and emphasized the close cooperation between the two events. He stressed the great need for a European platform for tactical medicine and was pleased that this has now been successful for several years.

After two successful days of the CMC Conference under the motto "who cares wins", the Commander of the Regionale Unterstütungszentren (Regional Medical Facilities), Major General Dr. Kalinowski, underlined the importance of medical care even in extreme situations, thanked organizers and participants for their help to human kind and acknowledged the great international platform of this best-organized and conducted congress. The next CMC Conference will take place on July 1 and 2, 2020 and is eagerly awaited again!

Hereafter you will find the abstracts of the presentations held at the CMC:

ANDRES, Torsten - Abstract Hautverletzungen

ATTAR, Sam - abstract - principles of ortho war surgery syria

ATTAR, Sam - abstract as a surgeon in syria

ATWAL, Sanita - Abstract Surgeon in IRAQ

BOHN, Andreas - Management Amokfahrt Münster

BRETSCHNEIDER, Ingeborg - Abstract Research on Trauma Induced Coagulopathy

COTTE Abstract DCR Bakhane

DE SCHOUTHEETE - Abstract Terror attacks in Brussels

FREUDE, Gregor - abstract

HAAKON, Hasselgren - Abstract Operation Triton

HERBER, Bernd Abstract Industrial chemicals Ärzte_EN