US Department of Defense
BLAST INJURY RESEARCH
COORDINATING OFFICE
Advancing Blast Injury Research to Protect and Heal Those Who Serve

Blast Injury Research Program Areas

The DoD Blast Injury Research Program works to close knowledge gaps in the prevention, mitigation and treatment of blast injuries. To address the gaps and capability requirements for the full spectrum of blast injuries, the program organizes current research efforts into three key research program areas: Injury Prevention, Acute Treatment and Injury Mitigation, and Reset and Rehabilitation.

Injury Prevention

Injury prevention reduces the risk of blast injuries. This research supports the design of guidelines and performance standards for individual and combat platform occupant protection systems based on empirical biomedical research findings; comprehensive injury surveillance systems that link injury, operational, and protection system performance data; tools to identify individual susceptibility to injury; and individual resilience training to prevent or mitigate injuries.

Acute Treatment

Acute treatment mitigates injury by providing immediate treatment for all blast injury types. This research explores diagnostic tools, healthcare provider training, wound care, and medical treatment outcome analysis.

Reset

Reset mitigates disability by providing a biomedically based performance assessment capability for return to duty and redeployment following blast injury; restoring full performance capabilities in redeployed individuals; and rebuilding function and ability to seriously injured Service Members to ensure maximum self-sufficiency. The term “reset” acknowledges a concept that extends beyond rehabilitation to include all activities necessary to return injured Service Members to duty or to productive civilian lives.

Last modified: 18-Jun-2019