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Rugged case provider OtterBox today finds one of its products on the frontlines of Army medical safety in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Afghanistan. Its OtterBox 1900 PDA case, along with Hewlett-Packard's iPAQ hx4700, helps first responders record, store, retrieve and transfer personnel records to laptops on the battlefield. The aim is to keep the iPAQ and the information on it safe in wind storms, mud, sand, dust, rain and high temperatures, and by extension better help wounded soldiers.

The 1910 is made through an injection molding process and it is comprised of a glass-reinforced polycarbonate shell with a thermoplastic rubber overmodling for added drop protection, according to OtterBox. It has been tested to meet IP-67 and MIL SPEC 810 ratings for water, dust and drop protection.

Otterbox asserts the combined solution is more economical for the Army than purchasing a standard rugged PDA, which often go for $1500 or more. The Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) is an Army program that pays $500 to $600 for an hx4700 and $100 for an OtterBox 1900, saving approximately $1,000 per unit.

The savings are enormous when you consider that MC4 has already deployed more than 12,000 of these combined systems to more than 250 medical units.

MC4 loads all necessary medical information management software onto the iPAQ. The software, developed by the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (also a part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command), is known as the Battlefield Medical Information System Tactical - Joint (BMIST-J). With it, Army tactical medical forces can quickly and securely document patient information at the point of injury.

This technology also replaces the handwritten, paper-based medical record, DD Form 1380, Field Medical Card, in use since World War II. This 3-inch by 8-inch piece of paper uses a method of recording medical information by hand that has essentially remained unchanged for more than 60 years. It is also easily lost, something the Otterbox/iPAQ solution intends to remedy.

Army MSG Scott Morgan of the Army's Third Infantry Division and currently stationed in Baghdad, Iraq, recalls, "One of the problems we have seen in past deployments is losing that information." However, with (this) system, he adds, "We're not going to have that problem anymore. We're going to be able to successfully take care of our Soldiers, because that's what it's about."

PDAStreet has a 1900 on hand right now. It is indeed quite rugged. There are even four 3 millimeter screws and a hex wrench you can use to secure the latches to the case for extra security. The device has an external stylus holder, flip-up protective screen cover, a latch system that's easy to open, and includes rubber molding to help make gripping a breeze. Underneath the screen cover is a replaceable screen membrane that's a second layer of protection.

Another OtterBox case we recently checked out is the 1910 for the iPAQ hw6500 Pocket PC Phone. As with the 1900, this case provides access to all the major functions of the device. In the 1910, this would include the sync/charge, SD slot, headset jack, camera and flash, even the QWERTY thumb-keyboard, along with all the other hw6500's other buttons.

The case performed this last trick by replicating all the buttons. So when you pressed a letter on the case, for example, while the hw6500 is inside, it caused the corresponding letter on the actual iPAQ to depress.