New York Medical College Lands $10M Defense Award For Tactical Care Research

VALLAHALLA, NY — One of the oldest med schools in the country has entered into a partnership to help save lives in the most challenging circumstances.

New York Medical College in Valhalla has received a $10 million Department of Defense award for a three-year program focused on tactical medicine and prolonged casualty care. The project is being done in partnership with the Uniformed Services University, which known as as "the Defense Department's medical school."

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The program is aimed at a problem facing both military and civilian responders: how to save lives when injured people cannot be quickly evacuated to a hospital or other definitive care. The college said the issue can arise in future military engagements as well as domestic mass casualty, hazardous and violence-related events where rapid EMS transport may not be possible.

"This award represents a critical investment in the future of civilian and battlefield medicine," said David Markenson, director of the NYMC Center for Disaster Medicine. "By combining New York Medical College's expertise in disaster medicine and emergency care with the Uniformed Services University's unparalleled military medical knowledge, we will develop the protocols, tools, and training that will enable combat medics and first responders to save lives when transport of victims to definitive care is prolonged, no matter how remote or austere the environment."

New York Medical College said the work will focus on four areas. Those include evidence-based treatment protocols and equipment inventories for combat and mass violence scenarios, medical care approaches and treatment algorithms for prolonged casualty care, austere environments informed by military and civilian experience, and the use of artificial intelligence and immersive education models using virtual reality and augmented reality.

The resulting care protocols, AI applications and training tools are intended to address combat and civilian medical care in austere conditions, care in hostile environments, response to mass violence like mass shooting events, bleeding control and management, rural responder training, and geographically dispersed education for military and civilian teams. The training component also includes what the college described as a metaverse approach for both VR and AR.

"Institutions like this are doing much more than educating the next generation of doctors and health professionals," said Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17). "They are preparing our communities and our country to respond when disaster strikes. That's why I was proud to help secure a $10 million Department of War investment announced earlier this year as another tremendous example of what can happen when we invest at the federal level in the expertise and innovation that exists right here in the Hudson Valley."

According to the college, the program will unfold in three phases over three years: an evaluation phase, a development phase, and a pilot and distribution phase. The final phase will test and distribute the models to military and civilian partners nationwide.