By the Numbers: 25 June 2018

By the Numbers: 25 June 2018

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The proportion of "US military casualties among service members evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan" caused by "non-battle injuries," according to a recent article in the journal JAMA Surgery -- A 12-Year Analysis of Nonbattle Injury Among US Service Members Deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The article also noted that non-battle injuries were the cause of 11.5% of all deaths among this cohort.

Among the findings:

  • The median age at injury was 24 years.
  • Rates of NBI were higher among women than among men (63.2% [604 of 955] vs 33.1% [9599 of 29 003]).
  • A higher proportion of NBIs occurred in members of the Air Force (66.3% [539 of 810]) and Navy (48.3% [394 of 815]) than in members of the Army (34.7% [7680 of 22 154]) and Marine Corps (25.7% [1584 of 6169])
  • Leading mechanisms of NBI included falls (2178 [21.3%]), motor vehicle crashes (1921 [18.8%]), machinery or equipment accidents (1283 [12.6%]), blunt objects (1107 [10.8%]), gunshot wounds (728 [7.1%]), and sports (697 [6.8%]) 

According to the researchers, "Understanding the possible causes of NBI during military operations may be useful to target protective measures and safety interventions, thereby conserving fighting strength on the battlefield.".