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Spinal Injury Treatments – From the Battlefield to the World


Modern medicine has experienced many advancements over the past 100 years. Many of these advancements have come from technology and pharmacological discoveries, while others have come to pass by scientific research and clinical trials. However, as one doctor has learned, many of these discoveries are a result of wartime experiences.

Contrary to many beliefs, both ancient and modern, there is nothing glorious about warfare. The grim truth of the matter is that there are at least two absolute facts about war: #1 In war young men and women die, and #2 There is nothing that anyone can do to change number one except stop the war. For some reason our species seems to have an overwhelming desire to destroy itself. There is however, some good that has come from our experiences in the battlefield. Many new methods to treat fatal spinal cord injuries have been learned by our battlefield experiences and have been transferred over to the civilian world.

One such example of learning such techniques occurred during WWII when many pilots were severely burned. Many of these pilots volunteered to be test subjects for a doctor by the name of Archibald McIndoe who pioneered the use of plastic and reconstructive surgery techniques that are still in use today. A study claims that another such example is that with beginning with the Iraq war and continuing into Afghanistan, the use of improvised explosives devices (IED) are in widespread use and have caused almost countless numbers of head and spinal injuries. Many of the techniques that battlefield doctors and nurses have learned in order to save the lives and limbs of these soldiers are making their way into the civilian medical community.

While serious spinal injuries are less common in the civilian world than what occurs on the battlefield, what medical science has learned from these experiences is benefiting society overall. Improvements in triage, patient transport, prosthetic devices, and rehabilitation are but a few of the many techniques and procedures that are not only saving lives but are also reducing immediate injuries from becoming a lifetime of hardship. Doctors in The Bronx and Brooklyn are studying these techniques.

Suffering a spinal cord injury is something no one fully understands unless they have experienced it themselves. A New York Spinal Injury Attorney may not know exactly the pain that you live with from day to day, but does understand that you have a right to the best possible settlement that the law will allow.

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