10th Annual Major Jonathan Letterman Medical Excellence Award

Originally published September 2017 · p. 34

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine (NCMWM) is proud to announce Captain Frank K. Butler, (USN ret), MD, as the recipient of the 10th Annual Major Jonathan Letterman Medical Excellence Award.

Dr. Frank K. Butler. Dr. Butler, has served as a Navy SEAL, as an innovator and leader in Navy and civilian dive medicine, and, most importantly, as the driving force of Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC). TCCC are strategies for providing the best trauma care on the battlefield and a set of guidelines to properly train non-medics to deal with preventable causes of death in the field and now in the civilian world. “In researching the career of Dr. Butler, it became obvious that he is indeed a ‘Living Letterman,’” explains NMCWM Executive Director David Price, “Dr. Butler’s accomplishments in the military, in the diving world, in ophthalmology, and in civilian medicine are too numerous to list, however the singular achievement of his amazing career is conceiving and bringing TCCC to worldwide implementation He literally wrote the book on the guidelines to critical care in combat, just like Major Jonathan Letterman did during the Civil War. There are few more deserving of this award than Dr. Butler.” The civilian world is now impacted by Dr. Butler through the ‘Stop the Bleed’ initiative, which is based on the success of the TCCC guidelines in dramatically reducing combat deaths. The ‘Stop the Bleed’ campaign aims to teach citizens basic techniques in hemorrhage control so an injured person has the greatest chance of surviving until they can reach a hospital. “The potential impact of this initiative could rival the benefits of CPR and the Heimlich maneuver in the civilian world. Military medicine quickly translates to the civilian world, in this case through training people in the use of a tourniquet,” observed Executive Director Price. “Without any exaggeration, Navy SEALs are more lethal, military and civilian divers are safer, and thousands of wounded combatants are alive because of his singular efforts,” says Butler’s colleague and nominator Dr. John B. Holcomb. “The military community understands his tremendous contributions, as evidenced by a Forward Surgery Team located just south of Mosul, in northern Iraq, naming the road in front of their tents, the ‘Frank Butler Boulevard’.” Nominator Dr. Holcomb was the recipient of the 2016 Major Jonathan Letterman Medical Excellence Award. The Jonathan Letterman Medical Excellence Award was established in 2008 and is named for Major Jonathan Letterman, who is known as the ‘Father of Battlefield Medicine.’ Recipients are modern-day visionaries who keep Letterman’s spirit of collaboration and problem solving alive today.The Letterman legacy continues to save lives through the work performed by dedicated medical professionals. Each year the award grows in stature and prestige as the importance of Civil War medical innovations becomes increasingly relevant in today’s medical community. The award is meant to honor individuals, military units or entities, companies, organizations or project groups who are leaders in innovative efforts in combat casualty care, prosthetic technology, regenerative medicine, improving outcomes for patients with traumatic brain injuries incurred on the battlefield, or drawing on today’s cutting edge medical technology to develop new ways to assist Armed Forces members who have suffered severe disfiguring wounds. These innovations carry over into civilian life, contributing to the advancement of medical processes and improved patient outcomes and quality of life for all. This year’s presentation ceremony will be held at Strong Mansion in Dickerson, Md., on Friday, Sept. 15, 2017 from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $75 for civilians and $50 for active-duty military. Sponsorships are available. All tickets and sponsorships are available at www.civilwarmed. org/event/10thlettermanaward For more information please contact Meg Gaulding at Meg. [email protected] or 301-695-1864 ext. 1014.