DASA exploring market for wearable injury prevention tech
The UK's Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is scoping the potential for an innovation competition addressing injury prevention in the British Army by means of wearable technology.
Courtesy DASA
The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) are interested in technologies addressing injury prevention in the British Army by means of wearable technology.
DASA is seeking to engage the market to explore market interest and to aid the scope and design of a potential future competition in advance of launch. This will provide it with an understanding of what already exists for injury prevention that can be adapted for military use as well as truly novel solutions.
A study in December 2017 showed that 19.8% of personnel were medically downgraded. Of the physical injuries represented in this figure the most common were musculoskeletal injury (MSKI), environmental injury (from heat and cold) and noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). As with any organisation requiring a physical presence there is an irreducible minimum. The best sports teams work with a 7 to 12% margin for all illnesses and this accords with Commander Field Army’s target of 90% deployability. In addition to the human cost behind these figures the rehabilitation of manpower capability accounts for over £100 million per annum.
The British Army is seeking rapid innovations to improve the deployability and overall health of service personnel through the use of data science and technology. The aspiration is to employ practical sensors (wearable technology) that will provide indicators and warnings prior to injury; to allow for early intervention and prevention of injuries.
The three focus areas for this market exploration are:
MSKI prevention: MSKI is recognised as the leading cause of medical discharge in the British Army. The study showed that 61% of the Army’s non deployable personnel were as a result of MSKI, of which the average soldier took 9.5 months to fully recover
Environmental injury prevention: heat and non-freezing cold injuries (NFCI) accounted for 2.5% of downgraded service personnel
NIHL prevention: 5% of service personnel downgraded were due to NIHL, an increase on the previous year
All three areas are significantly impacting the operational effectiveness of the British Army notwithstanding the personal impact on personnel.