This article covers AFSOC Pararescue’s use of modern medical technology. There are several interesting components here, but i want to highlight ATAK, of course. here’s what they had to say:
None of these tools are available on-site, of course, so when a PJ jumps out of a plane, he is carrying all the gear he needs to keep someone alive. That includes tourniquets, the XStat syringes, an air tube and camera, IV equipment and liquids, possibly an automatic battery-powered respirator, and a number of other medical odds and ends. Sometimes the PJs even jump with a small hydraulic rescue tool, similar to the Jaws of Life, and an inflatable jack—a thick rubber pressurized balloon—that can be used to lift a vehicle off someone, including an aircraft.
At the heart of it all is a vitals-monitoring system is connected to an Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK)—a Samsung Galaxy S5 for special operators that runs a number of military-specific programs, including GPS mapping for navigation, flagging evacuation zones, and setting drop points. Combat medics used to carry large packs with heavy electronic equipment to monitor vitals. “Now all that tech can damn near fit in your pocket,” says one of the pararescuemen.
