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| CALL Newsletter 04-13 Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) CAAT II Initial Impressions Report (IIR) |
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
CAAT II
Initial Impressions Report (IIR)
Chapter 4: Combat Service Support
Topic F: Health Service Support
Subtopic 5: Laundering of Medical Contaminated Material
Observation Synopsis
Battalion aid stations are stocked with standard army green wool blankets for patients. These blankets, when used on a trauma patient, become contaminated with blood and other body fluids and require appropriate laundering. Despite deploying with these blankets, there did not appear to be a mechanism for washing and decontaminating these blankets. There is no procedure for this, but it did not appear that any of the other units in the AO knew what to do with them.
Lessons Learned
- Blankets contaminated with blood and/or other body fluids need to be stored until they can be properly decontaminated.
- Lack of a regular medical wool blanket laundering procedure depletes stocks.
DOTMLPF Implications
Doctrine: Establish a protocol to deal with cleaning wool blankets to ensure rapid reuse of limited supplies.
Materiel: Do not recommend elimination of the wool blankets, since the disposable combat casualty blankets are NOT equivalent.
Table of Supporting Observations
| Observation Title | CALLCOMS File Number |
| Laundry Services | 10000-15725 |
Table of Contents
Chapter 4-Topic F-Subtopic 4: Field Sanitation Teams
Chapter 4-Topic F-Subtopic 6: Medical Hazardous Waste
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