Martin Schreiber, MD, has spent his career asking a simple question that carries real weight in trauma care. Are we treating the average patient on a protocol, or the person in front of us? The answer has shaped how teams control bleeding, prevent clots, and translate research into decisions that improve outcomes at the bedside.
Dr. Schreiber is an adjunct professor of surgery at Uniformed Services University and a Colonel in the US Army Reserve. His leadership blends civilian and military experience. As a United States Army reservist, he served in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the need for fast, reliable care sharpened his focus on practical solutions. That perspective runs through his research portfolio, his quality programs, and his approach to building teams that can act with speed and precision.
The Hemorrhage Problem And A Systems Mindset
Uncontrolled bleeding remains a leading cause of preventable death after injury. Early control of hemorrhage, management of trauma induced coagulopathy, and maintenance of perfusion save lives. Dr Schreiber has helped move the field toward a systems mindset that compresses time from injury to control. That mindset links prehospital triage, rapid diagnosis, surgical or interventional control, and hemostatic resuscitation in one continuous process. The goal is simple even if the work is complex. Shorten the time to the right action and measure whether each step worked.
This approach is visible in modern trauma bundles. Hemorrhage control is now the priority in the field and early in hospital care. Teams prepare operating rooms and interventional suites sooner. Massive transfusion protocols start earlier and follow clear targets. Point of care coagulation testing is available where it is needed. Data are captured in a way that allows programs to review each case and get better with every cycle. The result is fewer delays and fewer missed opportunities when minutes matter.
From Fixed Doses To Fit For You Prevention
Blood clots are a common and costly complication after injury. For years many services used a fixed dose of low molecular weight heparin for all adults. Clinicians saw the limits of that approach. Despite following the protocol, high risk patients still developed deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. The reason was variability. Body habitus, physiology after injury, and the dynamic changes in coagulation meant that the same dose did not protect everyone equally.
Dr. Schreiber asked a different question. Can we measure clotting behavior and tailor the preventive dose to the patient? The work that followed explored whether whole blood viscoelastic testing could guide more precise use of anticoagulants. The concept was attractive because it provided a feedback loop at the bedside. Rather than assume that the chosen dose worked, the team could see the patient’s coagulation profile in real time and adjust.
The larger lesson has carried into current practice. Personalization is stronger than a one size fits all default. Many centers now begin with weight based starting doses and confirm exposure with selective laboratory monitoring in higher risk cohorts. The common thread is not a single device or one perfect metric. It is the expectation that prevention should be measured and adjusted so that high-risk patients are no longer left unprotected.
Translational Research With Practical Edges
A recurring feature of Dr Schreiber’s projects is the way they anticipate real world frictions. Great ideas fail when they do not fit daily workflow. His studies and pathways specify when to test, how to titrate in small steps, and when to recheck. They define who is responsible at each handoff. Pharmacists, nurses, surgeons, and intensivists share the same targets and the same language. That clarity makes the protocols durable and portable across units and hospitals.
This practical design also reflects his dual perspective. In military settings, resources are austere, distances are long, and the safest choice is often the fastest effective one. In civilian centers, the constraints are different, but the need for reliability remains the same. Processes that perform under stress in one world often strengthen the other once adapted. Schreiber’s teams have utilized this cross-pollination to enhance the quality of daily care.
What Colleagues Notice
Colleagues often describe three traits.
- A focus on measurement that is practical and straightforwward. Teams are more likely to use a test when the output is simple and the next step is clear.
- The ability to simplify complex literature into short, teachable steps is crucial. That translation is what allows a protocol to live at two in the morning when a junior resident and a bedside nurse need to act quickly.
- A habit of building collaborations that outlast any single study. Multicenter work, shared data, and common definitions make findings more believable and easier to spread.
Personal Insights For The Scientific Community
Measure before you escalate
Whether the tool is viscoelastic testing, anti Xa monitoring, or weight based dosing, confirm that an intervention reaches its intended physiologic target. In trauma, variability is the rule. Measurement prevents both under-treatment and over-treatment.
Design for the day to day reality
A protocol should fit the rhythm of rounds, imaging schedules, pharmacy checks, and nursing workflow. Specify the time for the first level, the size of each dose change, and the time for the follow up level. The more precise the cadence, the more reliable the result.
Build systems rather than moments of heroism
Lasting gains rarely come from rare procedures. They come from reliable systems that shorten time to hemorrhage control and standardize resuscitation. Checklists, ready rooms, and clear escalation paths save lives.
Let military and civilian care learn from each other
Constraints in combat strip care down to essentials. That clarity can improve civilian protocols. In turn, civilian data systems and networks can strengthen battlefield medicine by offering scale and analytic depth.
Stay humble about tools, stay firm about goals
Technology will evolve. The goal does not change. Fewer preventable clots and more lives saved through therapies that are timed, dosed, and monitored to fit the patient.
Education And Mentorship
Research only matters when it changes practice, and practice only changes when people know how to do the work. Dr Schreiber’s teams invest in education that matches the speed of trauma care. Short modules cover the interpretation of viscoelastic tracings. Brief scripts guide conversations during rounds. Pharmacist led sessions teach dose adjustment and monitoring plans. Simulation strengthens the handoffs that matter most. The aim is to create muscle memory across the team so that high quality care is the default behavior.
Mentorship plays a similar role. Young surgeons and scientists learn not only methods but also habits. Frame crisp questions. Choose outcomes that matter to patients and to the teams who care for them. Plan for how a study can become a pathway if it works. Share results in a way that other centers can adopt without starting from scratch.
Why This Work Matters To Business And Science
Trauma care sits at the intersection of clinical performance and operational discipline. Delays carry both human and financial costs. Preventable complications extend stays and reduce capacity. Effective protocols free resources and improve outcomes at the same time. Leaders who invest in measurement and in systems that move information to the bedside see returns that compound. Less waste, fewer complications, better value, and increased survival are aligned goals when the work is designed well.
For scientists, the message is equally clear. Choose readouts that reflect whole patient physiology. Build studies that anticipate the real conditions under which care is delivered. Capture data in ways that make it easy to learn and improve. Share both the science and the playbook. When research and operations support each other, adoption is faster and more faithful.
A Closing Perspective
The thread that runs through Dr Martin Schreiber’s career is a commitment to the patient in front of the team. Measure the signals that matter. Use that information to guide timely action. Build protocols that are fast, safe, and teachable. Then learn from each case and improve the next one. It is not glamorous work and it does not require a constant stream of new devices. It requires clarity of purpose, respect for the realities of care, and steady attention to implementation.
That combination saves lives in trauma units every day. It helps clinicians prevent clots that once felt unavoidable. It helps teams control bleeding sooner and with fewer missteps. It turns research into routines that hold up under pressure. Most of all, it keeps the focus where it belongs. It focuses on the person who needs help right now and the team that can deliver that assistance.
