Sensors monitor soldier health during combat.

• Author: Foster, Sharon
• Position: Tech Talk - Brief Article

The U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, is leading an effort to keep better track of soldiers' health during military operations and training.

The project is known as the Warfighter Physiological Status Monitoring Program. Its goal is to provide field commanders with information regarding the current and predicted physiological stare of their troops on the battlefield, said Col. John Obusek, commander, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Mass.

Participants in the program wear sensors that measure heart rate, metabolic energy cost of walking, core and skin temperatures, and levels of activity or inactivity.

Armed with this type of information, commanders will be much better equipped to assess risk to their...