Moore Brian A, Hale Willie J, Judkins Jason L, Lancaster Cynthia L, Baker Monty T, Isler William C, Peterson Alan L
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7550 Interstate Highway 10 West, Suite 1325, San Antonio, TX 78229.
University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249.
Mil Med. 2020 Sep 18;185(9-10):e1632-e1639. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usaa115.
Contingency operations during the past 18 years have exposed millions of U.S. military service members to numerous combat and operational stressors. Despite this, a relative dearth of literature has focused on the experiences of deployed military medical personnel. As such, the present study aimed to address this gap in the literature by conducting individual and small group interviews with Air Force medical personnel who had recently returned from a deployment to Iraq. Interviews targeted self-reported factors related to psychological risk and resiliency across the deployment cycle, while also seeking recommendations for future military medical personnel preparing for medical deployments.
Inductive thematic analyses were conducted on transcripts from 12 individual and structured group interviews conducted with recently deployed U.S. Air Force medical personnel (N = 28). An interview script consisting of 18 prompts was carefully developed based on the experiences of study personnel. Two team members (n = 1 research psychologist; n = 1 military medical provider) coded exemplars from interview transcripts. A third team member (research psychologist) reviewed coded exemplars for consistency and retained themes when saturation was reached.
In total we report on 6 primary themes. Participants reported feeling prepared to conduct their mission while deployed but often felt unprepared for the positions they assumed and the traumas they commonly experienced. Most participants reported deployment to be a rewarding experience, citing leader engagement, and social support as key protective factors against deployment-related stressors. Finally, following deployment, participants largely reported positive experiences reintegrating with their families but struggled to reintegrate into their workplace.
Findings from the present study indicate that the military is largely doing a good job preparing Air Force medical providers to deploy. Results of the present study indicate that military medical personnel would benefit from: (1) increased predictability surrounding deployment timelines, (2) improved cross-cultural training, (3) advanced training for atypical injuries in unconventional patient populations, and (4) improvements in postdeployment workplace reintegration. The present research has the potential to positively impact the overall quality of life for deploying military service members and their families; while simultaneously highlighting the successes and shortfalls in the deployment process for U.S. military medical personnel.
在过去18年的应急行动中，数以百万计的美国军人暴露于众多战斗和作战压力源之下。尽管如此，关注已部署军事医务人员经历的文献相对匮乏。因此，本研究旨在通过对刚从伊拉克部署归来的空军医务人员进行个人及小组访谈，填补这一文献空白。访谈针对整个部署周期内与心理风险和恢复力相关的自我报告因素，同时也为未来准备进行医疗部署的军事医务人员寻求建议。
对与刚部署归来的美国空军医务人员（N = 28）进行的12次个人及结构化小组访谈的文字记录进行归纳主题分析。基于研究人员的经验，精心编制了一份包含18个问题的访谈脚本。两名团队成员（1名研究心理学家；1名军事医疗提供者）对访谈文字记录中的示例进行编码。第三名团队成员（研究心理学家）审查编码示例的一致性，并在达到饱和时保留主题。
我们总共报告了6个主要主题。参与者表示在部署期间有准备执行任务，但对于他们所担任的职位以及常见的创伤往往感到准备不足。大多数参与者称部署是一次有益的经历，将领导参与和社会支持视为抵御与部署相关压力源的关键保护因素。最后，在部署之后，参与者大多报告与家人重新团聚的经历积极，但难以重新融入工作场所。
本研究结果表明，军方在很大程度上为空军医疗人员的部署做好了准备。本研究结果表明，军事医务人员将受益于：（1）提高部署时间表的可预测性；（2）改进跨文化培训；（3）针对非常规患者群体非典型损伤的进阶培训；以及（4）部署后工作场所重新融入方面的改进。本研究有可能对部署军人及其家属的整体生活质量产生积极影响；同时突出美国军事医务人员部署过程中的成功与不足。
