The SOF medic still has the ultimate medical mission. Despite the proliferation of medical information, no single reference source has emerged addressing the varied and complicated needs of the SOF medic. As a result, conflicting information and even misinformation have created confusion over the most basic medical questions, possibly endangering the lives of those we are committed to helping.
The SOF medical community had to remedy this dangerous situation by creating a new SOF Medical Handbook, one that provides guidance to medics in our special environment, answering the hard diagnostic and treatment questions as best as possible. These answers are based on the best possible knowledge and tailored to the austere mission — in plain, straightforward language, without excuses, conditions or academic musings.
The Handbook is written for SOF medical personnel performing the mission with the understanding that medicine is not a sacred subject practiced only by physicians, but rather skills and knowledge that can be learned and used to save lives. There is advice in this handbook that will be viewed as outrageous in traditional, conservative, hospital-based medical settings. Only someone struggling with life and death decisions in the difficult environment of a SOF medic can appreciate the need for this advice. In other contexts it could be viewed as inappropriate, possibly even bordering on malpractice. Be advised that the Handbook has limited application outside of the SOF context and is not intended for anything other than use by highly trained SOF medics.
