Cloth Ballistic Vest Alters Response to Blast

摘要

Ballistic wounds have been and will remain the principal cause of casualties in combat. Cloth ballistic vests (CBV) play an important role in limiting critical wounds from fragments and small arms fire. There is an increased risk of primary blast injury on the modern battlefield. In a previous study, volunteers were exposed to short-duration blast waves of low peak pressure. Pressure measurements made in distal esophagus as an estimate of intrathoracic pressure (ITP) were significantly higher when the standard U.S. Army ballistic jacket was worn when fatigues alone were worn. In this study 58 sheep were exposed to nominal blast levels of 115,230,295, and 420 kPa peak pressure in groups of 12, 18, 16, and 12, respectively. Half of each group was fitted with a CBV. Lung weight index (LWI), lung weight expressed as a percentage of body weight, was used as a measure of blast injury. Use of the CBV was associated with a significant increase in LWI which averaged 21% for the two middle exposure groups. At the 420 kPa level, two of six non-CBV animals died as opposed to five or six animals wearing the CBV. Intrathoracic pressure was generally higher in the CBV group. Reprints. (SDW)