The American Medical Association has long been interested in disaster medical care, and we are happy today to present the seventh annual National Medical Civil Defense Conference. There is a growing concern among physicians that adequate steps be taken to assure good medical care under conditions of disaster. Emergency medical services, including those for traumatic injuries, have been actively studied by a growing number of men within the last few years.
The Army Medical Service has made significant advances in many fields of emergency medical service. With the experience of past wars, the results of research in the management of traumatic wounds, and the clinical observations of critically studied patients in Army hospitals, there have evolved some fresh surgical approaches to old complex problems. With the development of larger weapons and greater casualty—producing devices and agents, there have been significant, though perhaps less dramatic, medical advances that appear to hold