Back in 2014, the U.S Air Force initiated its Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided Knowledge or BATMAN project to evaluate the potential application of wearable technology that was either available or in development.
While many simply fizzled out due to reliability or durability concerns, one has progressed and could see real-world action soon. The U.S. Air Force recently wrapped up field trials for the Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distributed Observation Kit, or BATDOK.
The BATDOK is a software package installed on a smartphone, tablet, or other wearable wireless device. It’s fed information from sensors placed on a battlefield patient, allowing the medic or even those without medical training to simultaneously monitor the vital signs of multiple wounded soldiers. Alerts can also set to deliver audible or visual ques if the soldier’s condition worsens.
This data can be shared with medical personnel not on site and run against military electronic health records. The attached sensors also give the exact location of each patient on battlefield maps, and a medical library is available for on-site reference.
The system has seen field-testing with Air Force flight medics, Pararescue Jumpers, and Special Forces personnel, with the developers on the scene to evaluate and tweak the system.
BATDOK could also be used on humanitarian missions, where a commander monitors a team entering an earthquake- or tsunami-ravaged area.
In case you were wondering, other items of interest to Project BATMAN are gloves with fiber-optic lights and electronic signal guns for air traffic communication.