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Health Readiness

The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Health Readiness Policy and Oversight is the principal staff assistant and advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) for all medically related Department of Defense policies, programs, and activities. The office is responsible for deployment medicine, force health protection, medical readiness, international health agreements, deployment related health policy, theater information systems, humanitarian and health missions, and national disaster support.

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USNS Comfort conducts mass casualty training exercise

Article
10/15/2018
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Arthur Lammers, an anesthesiologist assigned to the hospital ship USNS Comfort, practices patient transfer during a mass casualty exercise. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joseph DeLuco)

A mass casualty event, by nature, is chaotic

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Health Readiness | Military Hospitals and Clinics

Say ‘Shoo’ to the flu with TRICARE

Article
9/26/2018
Amanda LaFountain, a licensed practical nurse, administers the flu shot to a Soldier. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marshall Metzger)

Flu viruses are serious, contagious viruses that can lead to hospitalization or even death

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Health Readiness | Immunization Healthcare | Public Health

Spine surgery team adds capability, improves readiness

Article
9/11/2018
Air Force Col. (Dr.) Edward Anderson, 99th Medical Group orthopedic spine surgeon, performs a lumbar microdiscectomy surgery at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. A lumbar microdiscectomy surgery is performed to remove a portion of a herniated disc in the lower back. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Andrew D. Sarver)

The benefits of performing complex surgeries in the orthopedic spine clinic go far beyond the operating room

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Health Readiness | Military Hospitals and Clinics

Proper sleep hygiene as a force multiplier

Article
9/5/2018
The fact that properly resting personnel has multiple benefits across the spectrum of human performance and military readiness is undisputed. (U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Michel Sauret)

Sleep is cheap; it costs nothing to rest troops properly, with proven, immediately realized returns

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Health Readiness | Sleep

Army researchers develop tasty, healthy performance bar

Article
9/4/2018
Two U.S. Army soldiers eat a version of the Performance Readiness Bar. USARIEM researchers will monitor them to test whether the bar affects bone density. (U.S. Army photo by Mr. David Kamm)

Researchers aren’t working to provide recruits and soldiers with something that only tastes good; it has to make sense for their nutrition

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Health Readiness | Nutrition

Guard Soldier uses medical skills to save boy’s life

Article
8/31/2018
New York Army National Guard Spc. Nicole McKenzie, shown here in a personal photo, used her combat life-saving skills to help save the life of a 12-year-old boy who jumped from an overpass in Yonkers, New York, Aug. 3, 2018. (Courtesy photo)

McKenzie just completed combat life-saving training and immediately began to triage the injuries the boy sustained in the fall

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Health Readiness

U.S. doctors save Italian patient hours from death

Article
8/8/2018
U.S. Air Force Capt. Melanie Gates, left, Capt. Nick McKenzie, and Capt. Richard Thorsted, all who are Special Operations Command Forward Northwest Africa ground surgical team members, gather for a photo at Nigerien Air Base 101, Niamey. The three doctors recently finished medical school and are serving their first deployment. They are deployed from Travis Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo)

The patient had a fever, a very high heart rate and low oxygen levels

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Health Readiness | Global Health Engagement | Partners

Trauma care reference body now woven into DHA combat support

Article
8/3/2018
Establishing the Joint Trauma System within the Defense Health Agency optimally positions the JTS to serve as the reference body for all trauma care. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Gary Johnson)

The JTS mission is to provide evidence-based process improvement of trauma and combat casualty care to drive morbidity and mortality to the lowest possible levels, and to provide recommendations on trauma care and trauma systems across the Military Health System

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Health Readiness | Access to Health Care

Shanahan discusses medical readiness, DHA transfer at Womack

Article
8/1/2018
Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan greets Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie as Army Col. John Melton, the commander of Womack Army Medical Center, looks on, at the start of a meeting at Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, July 26, 2018. Shanahan convened the meeting to discuss medical readiness, as well as how the Defense Health Agency and military services are collaborating on the integration of the Military Health System. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

The fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act transfers the administration and management of military medical treatment facilities to the DHA beginning Oct. 1, 2018

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Health Readiness | Military Hospitals and Clinics

Leaders come together to rehearse military healthcare transition

Article
7/31/2018
Leaders from across the Department of Defense, the Army and Fort Bragg meet at U.S. Army Forces Command headquarters July 19, 2018, to discuss the upcoming transition of the administration and management of Womack Army Medical Center from the U.S. Army Medical Command to the Defense Health Agency. (U.S. Army photo by Eve Meinhardt)

There should be zero impact on delivery of medical services that support readiness of the force

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Health Readiness | Military Hospitals and Clinics

Preparing for travel can prevent illness

Article
7/18/2018
Experts encourage overseas travelers to seek advice from a health care provider before leaving on a trip, and to make sure recommended vaccinations are up to date (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. De-Juan Haley)

Experts encourage travelers to be proactive about their travel medicine needs, including learning about the health risks associated with the destination and checking with their doctor to make sure they’re in good health

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Health Readiness | Public Health | Immunizations | Summer Safety

Operation Bobcat provides free healthcare to residents of Eastern Kentucky

Article
7/2/2018
Area residents line up outside Lee County High School in Beattyville, Kentucky to receive treatment at a health-care clinic being operated by the Air National Guard and U.S. Navy Reserve. The clinic is one of four that comprised Operation Bobcat, a 10-day mission to provide military medical troops with crucial training in field operations and logistics while offering no-cost health care to the residents of Eastern Kentucky. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Dale Greer)

The primary purpose of Operation Bobcat is to provide military medical troops with crucial training

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Health Readiness | Civil Military Medicine | Civil Support

Breaking down the image: Mental health

Article
5/22/2018
Kevin Hines, a suicide survivor and activist for suicide prevention, speaks to Airmen assigned to the 28th Bomb Wing about his story at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. Hines is one of 36 people to survive a suicide attempt by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nicolas Z. Erwin)

May has been National Mental Health Month since 1949

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Mental Health Care | Health Readiness | Mental Wellness

Migration to Defense Health Agency to modernize Army medicine, surgeon general says

Article
5/2/2018
Lt. Gen. Nadja Y. West, the Army Surgeon General and commanding general for Army Medical Command, addressed the Army's fiscal year 2019 funding request and budget justification before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations on Capitol Hill, April 26. (Courtesy photo provided by the Senate Appropriations Committee)

Army Medicine has the opportunity to make significant improvements in healthcare

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Health Readiness | Military Hospitals and Clinics

Surgeons general testify on medical readiness at senate hearing

Article
4/30/2018
Air Force Maj. Michael Rawlins, 60th Surgical Operations Squadron, takes out a piece of stomach during a surgery at David Grant USAF Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force by photo Louis Briscese)

The services’ surgeons general updated senators on Capitol Hill on the needs and priorities of military health programs

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Military Hospitals and Clinics | Health Readiness
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