Medical devices are complex… developing them to also withstand the environments of forward military operations requires a rare development skill set. Life-sustaining devices need to survive air drops and not impede the flight systems during an airlift. They need to function in a sandstorm or a tropical monsoon, and may need to fit in a rucksack with 80 pounds of other gear. Decision support is needed for a 19-year old corpsman in a nighttime firefight as well as the neurosurgeon in the OR. Nowhere are the stresses on surgical teams and their equipment more pronounced than with battlefield casualties, where there is precious little time or working space to stabilize a soldier with multiple major traumas. U.S., NATO and other medical leadership have made it a priority to better understand how and where outcomes can be improved. They are looking for ways to push more sophisticated procedures into the field, to simplify devices so they require less specialized training, to cost-effectively accommodate an increasing load of civilian care and humanitarian missions. PDT helps deliver the innovations and adaptations that save lives of soldiers and civilians alike.