A Review of Hearing Conservation Program in Military Services: US Army Hearing Program

Purpose: It is acknowledged that impact of noise in the military should be considered due to exposure to the high intensity levels which occur noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus.Paradoxically, healthy hearing is a vital role in the performance of a soldier and is important for speech communication during the combat.Methods: This review paper introduces the current US army hearing program including techniques and procedures that govern the prevention of the noise-induced hearing loss in the soldiers and ensure their maximum combat effectiveness.Results: It generally consists of four elements, namely hearing readiness, clinical hearing service, operational hearing service, and hearing conservation.First of all, hearing readiness is to measure the soldier's hearing threshold as a baseline and classify him into appropriate job position.Clinical hearing service is to diagnose a degree of hearing loss and then decide its temporal or permanent loss with detailed clinical measurements.In the operational hearing service, noise abatement strategies and ideal noise levels for engineering controls are included.Hearing conservation is related to identification of hazardous noise and effective use of hearing protector.Conclusion: Like the US army hearing program, we need to serve the hearing conservation program with technical and administrative guidance for preventing the noise-induced hearing loss of young soldiers, in advance, in Korea.