BA Auto Injector RFI

The AFMS is focused on providing pain relief at or very close to the wounding event, both in space and time.  A complete capability for effective, safe Battlefield Analgesia requires a systematic approach encompassing a suitable drug, a suitable and feasible route of administration, and an effective packaging and carriage device to reduce the risk of diversion and abuse.  The 10 mg Morphine Sulfate auto-injector is no longer the accepted standard and has been found in multiple cases of treatment of severe wounds to be ineffective.  Better drugs and routes of administration are known. Experience also shows that safe handling of these potent drugs with potential for diversion and abuse is possible but may require thoughtful design of the carrying device in order to reduce the risk of diversion1. 

The elements of such a system would include: 1) a drug with the appropriate pharmaceutical effects and safety profile for short-term pain relief; 2) a dosage form suitable for administration without the necessity of starting an intravenous or intraosseous infusion; and 3) formulation, storage and/or dispensing device(s) that facilitate inventory and tracking of the drug and reduce, if not prevent, its abuse and diversion1.