The U.S. Army is pushing to use robots to remove wounded troops from the battlefield and drones to deliver medical supplies to soldiers fighting near enemy lines.
The Army News Service reported that Maj. Gen. Steve Jones, who serves as commander of the Army Medical Department Center and School, recently discussed integrating Army-operated unmanned aerial and ground vehicles into the medical community helping soldiers on the battlefield.
"We have lost medics throughout the years because they have the courage to go forward and rescue their comrades under fire," Jones said during remarks at the Association of the U.S. Army-sponsored medical conference in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. "With the newer technology, with the robotic vehicles we are using even today to examine and to detonate IEDs [improvised explosive devices], those same vehicles can go forward and retrieve casualties."
"We already use robots on the battlefield today to examine IEDs, to detonate them," Jones added. "With some minor adaptation, we could take that same technology and use it to extract casualties that are under fire. How many medics have we lost, or other soldiers, because they have gone in under fire to retrieve a casualty? We can use a robotics device for that."
According to Jones, the unmanned Army vehicles could be designed to protect injured troops as they move them off the battlefield into safety. He also explained that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, could be used to provide support for soldiers operating near and behind enemy lines.
"What happens when a member of the team comes down with cellulitis or pneumonia? We have got to use telemedicine to tele-mentor them on the diagnosis and treatment," Jones said. He proposed that drones could deliver medical support items like antibiotics and blood to soldiers so that they can continue fighting.
"So you don’t have to evacuate the casualties, so the team can continue its mission," Jones said.