NMT builds battlefield casualty system for Air Force

Noninvasive Medical Technologies Inc. will continue to provide medical information technology to the Air Force under a contract valued at approximately $2.4 million.

The sole-source award from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., calls for the medical device IT company to continue development of the Multiple Casualty Assessment and Management System.

The system is a comprehensive, turnkey solution that incorporates NMT’s patent-pending Etag – a non-contact hemodynamic monitoring device – with wireless communication, display technology and advanced tactile sensors to simultaneously detect and monitor multiple casualties within 300 yards of a medic or first-response team, company officials said.

Remotely activated, the system monitors each casualty from the point of wounding to casualty evacuation, and produces a data record for follow-on casualty management, the officials explained.

In addition, the system creates a real-time communications link with a tactical command center that provides battlefield situational awareness and meaningful intelligence for required logistical response and follow-on care.

The award is the fourth contract NMT has received from the Defense Department and the third as a DOD prime contractor with sole-source provider designation. The Air Force originally charged the company to develop a casualty assessment and management solution in early 2006, said Ronald McCaughan, NMT’s chairman and chief executive officer.

NMT, which has also teamed with NASA on a joint research initiative, is currently engaged in adapting Etag technology for commercial use for disaster response, underground coal mines, critical care facilities, firefighting, EMT/ambulance service and others.