Queensland scientists are developing a drug that they say has the potential to save the lives of thousands of soldiers critically wounded on the battlefield.
In a nod to the significance of the research, US Special Forces has stumped up $550,000 for James Cook University’s Division of Tropical Health and Medicine to further research the therapy.
Professor Geoffrey Dobson says the drug, already seven years in the making, targets the first critical ten minutes after a soldier is wounded.
Time is the killer on the battlefield, with more than 85 per cent of all deaths among allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan occurring in the first 30 minutes, he says.
Nearly a quarter of these, almost a thousand people, were classified as having potentially survivable wounds.
The treatment Dr Dobson and research associate Hayley Letson are developing is administered in two stages.
The first rescues the casualty during the first few minutes of severe haemorrhage and head trauma, kick starting the heart to keep the patient’s vital organs working.
The second dose is used to stabilise the wounded person for many hours – an important stage for those injured on battlefields long distances from safety and medical resources.
Dr Dobson says the “art” of the therapy – what researchers will now look at determining – is working out the right dose to administer to produce the optimal blood pressure.
“If you aim for too high a blood pressure, the casualty will bleed to death, and if you aim too low the brain will be irreversibly damaged,” Dr Dobson said.
“It’s a double-edged sword.”
He says the aim of the treatment is to be able to “dial in” the right blood pressure that is low enough to reduce further blood loss, but high enough to prevent further brain injury.
The treatment could also be used to save lives away from the battlefield, including those living in remote areas of Australia.
Clinical trials could begin within a year.
AAP