ABSTRACT
One of the most striking components of the medical response to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan has been the dramatic improvement in personal protective equipment (PPE). This chapter discusses the threats faced by deployed personnel and the injury prevention responses that followed. Blast injury is generally classified into primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary. The chapter provides a broad outline of those types of ballistic weaponry used against UK military forces during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts from November 2001 to October 2014. It presents the patterns of injuries treated by the Defence Medical Services (DMS) during this period and their role in the PPE developments designed to mitigate against such weapon systems. The PPE issued to UK Armed Forces personnel deployed on Operations Telic and Herrick improved significantly throughout these campaigns due to the multidisciplinary approach adopted between Defence scientists and engineers, procurement teams, industry, academia, users of the PPE and clinicians.
