Medical evacuations of members of the French armed forces for infectious diseases in foreign operations

• Published in: Médecine et maladies infectieuses 2020-10, Vol.50 (7), p.545-554
• Main Authors: Simon, K., Cordier, P.-Y., Pommier de Santi, V., Luft, A., Brossier, C., Peytel, E., Simon, F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adapters; Armed forces; Bacteriology; Cardiology and cardiovascular system; Diagnostic software; Diagnostic systems; Disease prevention; Emergency medical services; Emerging diseases; Epidemiology; Evacuation; Fever; Fièvre; Forces armées françaises; French armed forces; Health care facilities; Hospitals; Human health and pathology; Infectious diseases; Intensive care; Intensive care units; Life Sciences; Maladies infectieuses; Malaria; Medical evacuations; Microbiology and Parasitology; Military; Missions; Paludisme; Parasitology; Physicians; Vector-borne diseases; Virology; Évacuations médicales
• ISSN: 0399-077X; 1769-6690
• DOI: 10.1016/j.medmal.2019.09.011

•Infectious situations account for 6.5% of medical evacuations of French armed forces members.•Reasons for medical evacuations are most often mild community-acquired diseases.•Surgical diseases account for more than half of cases.•Skin and soft tissue infections are highly represented.•Severe malaria is still concerning as the present study reported 11 patients evacuated to intensive care units and one death. Medical evacuations from foreign settings are a major health and strategic problem for the armed forces. This work aimed to study the characteristics of French military evacuations due to infectious diseases. We performed a retrospective study based on the registers of the French operational military staff for health to assess the characteristics of the strategic medical evacuation of French armed forces members on missions abroad between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2016. Out of 4633 included cases, 301 medical evacuations (6.5%) were carried out due to infectious situations. More than half of patients were repatriated to surgical wards (162 patients, 54%), 108 patients (36%) to medical wards, 21 patients (7%) to intensive care units, six patients (2%) to an armed forces medical center, and four files (1%) were incomplete. Among infectious emergencies, malaria led to 30 evacuations (10%) including 11 to intensive care units and one death before evacuation. Infectious diseases requiring medical evacuation were most often mild and community-acquired. Most soldiers were evacuated without medical assistance. Infectious diseases during missions and medical repatriations carried out for infectious reasons are important epidemiological indicators to monitor. They make it possible to adapt preventive measures, training, and diagnostic and therapeutic tools which can be made available to front-line military physicians. Les évacuations médicales en contexte de projection sont un problème sanitaire et stratégique majeur pour nos armées. Ce travail a pour but d’étudier les caractéristiques des évacuations de militaires français pour des pathologies infectieuses. Étude rétrospective sur registre de l’État-Major Opérationnel Santé ayant étudié les caractéristiques des évacuations médicales stratégiques des militaires français en mission à l’étranger entre le 1er janvier 2011 et le 31 décembre 2016. Sur 4633 dossiers inclus, 301 évacuations médicales (6,5 %) ont été réalisées pour des situations infectieuses. Plus de la moitié des patients ont été rapatriés ver