An integrated medical virtual reality program. The military application

There are basically three types of environments needed for battlefield medicine training: (1) a small task-oriented environment-for individual task training such as maintenance or surgical simulation; (2) a large space environment, usually with a terrain or architectural format for mission rehearsal or disaster training; and (3) a virtual prototyping environment for designing new and advanced technology for instruments, equipment, and even operating rooms. This arbitrary division provides specific types of virtual environments to be designed as stand-alone training simulators, or integrated into a larger training system. The military has been using various task-specific educational media as education and training devices for individual soldiers for decades. Within the context of training a medic or physician for a specific task, virtual environments can be utilized for simulation of combat first-aid and of surgical procedures to correct battlefield injuries. Today, this training is performed upon goats and includes performance of tracheostomy, chest tube insertion, subclavian vein cannulation, as well as inflicting a gunshot wound to the thigh to practice debridement and hemostasis.