WHEN US MILITARY medical people are caring for a patient who is far from home, the patient's loved ones are trying, at least figuratively, to look over the caregivers' shoulders.
In such circumstances, the military and the patient's family share three immediate concerns: his or her condition, present whereabouts, and eventual destination.
Many of the same concerns are raised in the latest General Accounting Office (GAO) study of US military medical efforts during the Gulf War. Fortunately, there were far fewer US casualties than predicted (JAMA. 1991;266:619-621), and many questions raised in the GAO's report long since have been addressed.