Over the past few years, the British Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) and U.S. Air Force Search and
Rescue Unit (also known as PEDRO) have been administering fluids to patients at point of injury and en route
through the use of intraosseous (IO) devices in the humeral head. The MERT includes an Emergency Medicine
residency trained physician. The PEDRO includes pararescue trained medical providers who are afforded the
opportunity to train on cadavers prior to deployment. The U.S. Army Center for Predeployment Medicine (CPDM)
at Fort Sam Houston, Texas provides medical training to providers of all levels. CPDM currently does not have an
adequate training model for the humeral head intraosseous device. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL)
executed a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) initiative to analyze the scientific, technical, and commercial
merit, and feasibility of using a low-cost medical simulator for training medical personnel in Army Combat Training
Schools. As part the initial phase, ARL conducted research and developed a capability to fill the gap in training this
procedure. The research focused on identifying innovative technologies, technical risks of the approach, costs, and
benefits associated with development and demonstration of the prototype. Additionally, a usability study was
conducted with emergency medicine residents to gather feedback and assess whether the initial prototype met
training requirements. This paper will discuss in detail how training requirements impacted the design of the
humeral head intraosseous training system. It will also explore the criteria used to develop the overall design, as
well as the identification of specific capabilities. In addition, it will explain how subject matter expertise was
utilized to develop requirements and performance metrics used to evaluate the feasibility of the concept. Finally, it
will review results from usability evaluations and lessons learned from the development and implementation of this
project.