DPR 41 /97 Friday, February 21, 1997
DEFENCE WORKING WITH INDUSTRY TO LEAD THE WORLD IN INTENSIVE-CARE RESCUE
The Australian Defence Force will today receive the most advanced Mobile Intensive-care Rescue Facility (MIRF) currently available in the world from its Toowoomba manufacturer, Buchanan Advanced Composites.
It was designed by Professor John Grant-Thomson, an Army Reservist in the Medical Corps, and the head of the Biomedical Unit within the Engineering Faculty of University of Southern Queensland (USQ). The MIRF was developed jointly by USQ, the Army and Buchanan Advanced Composites.
The MIRF is an example of the ADF improving health services by using the very latest technology.
"It's a world first in integrated mobile intensive care transportation of the critically ill,". Professor Grant-Thomson said
"One of the major benefits of the MIRF is its ability to bring intensive care facilities to the actual trauma site, allowing patients faster access to treatment.
"This can improve the chances of patient recovery if they receive intensive care treatment much earlier."
"It will be particularly valuable not only to the military, but to other emergency services in transport and care of, for example, road trauma patients, especially where there is a large number of injured. Because of its mobility, a road side intensive care unit can be set-up quickly.
The MIRF also allows patients to remain connected to the one life support system in transportation from one vehicle/aircraft to another, or from one location to another.
The mobile rescue facility is a self contained portable unit comprising a range of medical equipment, with its own power and oxygen supply, housed in a composite fibre capsule beneath a stretcher, General Manager of Buchanan Advanced Composites, Mr Norm Watt explained.
"We have worked closely with the Australian Defence Force and the University of Southern Queensland in manufacturing a quality and innovative product," Mr Watt said.
The Composite fibre capsule has been designed to absorb shock during transportation, which will add to patient comfort. It is able to operate for up to eight hours under its own power supply and can be connected to power on board a vehicle or aircraft.
An earlier version of the MIRF was used extensively by the ADF in Rwanda, where it provided an extra intensive care bed and was used in many types of aircraft transporting land mine, machete and bullet wound victims from Kigali Hospital to Nairobi General Hospital.
The production cost of each of the new MIRFs is about $100,000, including a trolley and transit case.
A MIRF will be used by the Army's 1 Field Hospital medical unit deployed during Exercise Tandem Thrust in Shoalwater Bay from 10 to 22 March 1997, and another will be used by 3 RAAF Hospital, Richmond, which operates emergency medical rescue flights within mainland Australian and to off shore territories such as Norfolk Island.
Further information:
Department of Defence Beryl Janz (018) 632 657 (mob)
Buchanan Advanced Composites Norm Watt (076) 331 856 (b/h)
BACKGROUNDER
Mobile Intensive-care Rescue Facility (MIRF)
What is the MIRF
· The Mobile Intensive-care Rescue Facility (MIRF) is a self contained,
portable unit comprising a range of medical equipment in a composite fibre
capsule with its own power and oxygen supply. A NATO stretcher is secured
on top of the container and the unit can be transported on a trolley or
carried. It is designed for use in aeromedical evacuations and vehicle
evacuations with the capsule designed to absorb shock during transportation.
It allows medical staff to provide intensive care treatment in aircraft,
vehicles and hospitals.
· It stands alone and is capable of operating under its own power
for up to eight hours with a one-and-a-half hour oxygen supply. It can
also be connected to external power sources.
· The MIRF allows a patient to be resuscitated, connected to medical
support and monitoring systems and transported to a medical facility all
on the same bed.
· The MIRF contains a cardiac defibulator, vital signs monitor, ventilator, compact suction unit, syringe and volumetric infusion pumps and oxygen as well as a power supply that can be attached to a vehicle's power system. Its monitor provides an electrocardiogram, and information on heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, oxygen saturation levels and carbon dioxide levels.
Development
· The Mobile Intensive-care Rescue Facility (MIRF) is a world leader
in mobile evacuation systems and is the only one of its kind currently on
the market.
· The MIRF was the brainchild of Professor Grant-Thomson, an Army Reservist with the Australian Defence Force's Surgeon Generals Office, and a professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern Queensland. It took 18 months for the Biomedical Unit within the Engineering Faculty at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) to research and develop, and to construct a prototype of the MIRF. This project was funded by a Defence Industry Capability Development Program with a grant of $270 000.
· USQ then worked with Buchanan Advanced Composites, a small Toowoomba based company that specialises in composite (i.e carbon fibre mould) manufacturing, to bring the MIRF to the production stage. Buchanan Advanced Composites (formerly Buchanan Aircraft Corporation) has also worked on sections of the Navy's new Collins class submarines and has built ferries for the Brisbane City Council.
· Two initial MIRFs were built for use by Australian Defence medical
personnel in Rwanda in 1994 and evaluation from this experience has resulted
in some enhancements.
· Eight new MIRFs will be built by the manufacturer for the Department
of Defence and the first of these is being handed over on 21 February 1997.
The first two MIRFs built for Rwanda will also be upgraded to the new production
standard.
· After an extensive evaluation of the 10 MIRFs the Australian Defence Force may look at additional purchases.
Benefits
· The major benefit of the MIRF is that it can bring intensive care
facilities to the actual trauma site, giving patients faster access to intensive
care facilities, and substantially improving their chances of recovery.
· The MIRF will greatly increase the level of care available to casualties
in the Army's field ambulance and evacuation aircraft. Because the equipment
is self contained with its own power supply, as well as being able to accept
power from other external source, it can be used in a range of non-specialist
vehicles and aircraft for casualty evacuation when specialist ambulance
and aircraft are not available.
· It will also greatly enhance the medical capability of aircraft
and vehicles in search and rescue operations and will enable the Australian
Defence Force to provide a higher standard of rescue operations. It will
be particularly valuable in transporting critically ill patients (i.e. machete
and bullet wound victims and heart attack and road trauma victims) to a
medical facility. Road side intensive care units could be quickly set-up
using the MIRFs, particularly where there is a large number of casualties.
· In a military setting it would enable field surgical teams to do
more complicated procedures closer to the front-line.
· Being able to transport patients from one location to another,
or to several other locations on the one bed, as the MIRF does, also improves
patient comfort.
· The modular design of the MIRF means that individual elements of
the MIRF can be easily replaced if the equipment needs to be upgraded and
so it can always use the best available medical equipment.
Military applications
· Two earlier versions of the MIRF have already proven their worth
in the field. One was extensively used in Rwanda. One has since been used
in Australia to transport one of the victims of the Black Hawk crash to
the Townsville General Hospital and then on to Perth General Hospital.
· In Rwanda the MIRF was used in many types of military and commercial
fixed and rotary wing aircraft. It was used daily over a three month period.
It acted as extra intensive care bed and allowed transportation of many
patients from Kigali Hospital to Nairobi General Hospital.
· A MIRF will be used by the deployed medical unit during the
joint Australian-US Exercise, Tandem Thrust at Shoalwater Bay from 10 to
22 March 1997.
· A MIRF will also be used by 3 RAAF Hospital at Richmond in long distance medical flight rescues to locations such as Norfolk Island. Seven of the MIRFs will be used by the Army, one by the Navy on a helicopter training and support ship and two by the Air Force in medical rescue aircraft.
Cost
· Each MIRF will cost about $100,000 (including the trolley and transit
case).