Aeromeds: Delivering life to fight in AOR

Published Sept. 28, 2006
By Maj. Ann Peru Knabe
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Capt. Louis Romain is up by 5 a.m., hits the gym and breakfast, and by 6 a.m. is working the 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron's crew management cell. An attorney in his civilian job, the Minnesota Air National Guard medical service corps officer knows he has a long day ahead of him.

Captain Romain is just one of many people playing a critical role in the 379th's EAES' mission, which is to provide highly trained and capable aeromedical evacuation for U.S. Central Command. Using C-17 and C-130 airlift, the squadron moves sick and injured U.S. coalition and foreign national patients within the war theater, and if patient injuries warrant, outside the area of responsibility.

"We're like the Pony Express," said Lt. Col. Sandie Duiker, 379th EAES commander. "The CAOC AECT (Combined Air Operations Center Aerovac Control Team) acts as the dispatch office, and the message gets to our crew management cell, and we move into action."

The Joint Patient Movement Regulating Center determines a receiving hospital for the affected patients and the "message" contains information on injured and sick patients. Captain Romain and his staff alert an aeromed crew, and the wheels begin to turn.

"Basically, the AECT looks for planes while I look for aeromed crews," Captain Romain explains.

At any given moment aeromed crews are poised for recall. The mission requires the crew management cell to have one crew on alpha alert at all times ready to launch in one hour. It also requires two bravo crews and one critical care air transport team assigned.

In addition a five- or six-person crew flies channel missions three days a week. These round-robin "mercy" missions stop at five or six locations within Iraq, Africa and neighboring Arab countries, evacuating U.S. and coalition forces, DoD personnel and foreign nationals from pre-designated locations. Typically, the mercy mission crews move around a dozen patients. Sometimes the number surges higher, but the crews are well-versed in flexibility as anything could happen. Any extra room on the aircraft is used as opportune airlift; there are no empty seats or cargo space when the flying ambulance leaves the ground.

On a recent Wednesday, the mercy mission aeromed crew was alerted at 7 a.m. Within minutes, the crew arrived. By 8:30 a.m. the team of flight nurses and medical technicians had finished their intelligence brief and mission planning session. Reflecting the total force concept, the aeromeds came from Guard and active duty home stations.

The team was led by Medical Crew Director Capt. Nathan Ferguson, an active duty nurse deployed from Pope. Lt. Col. Sandie Duiker, a West Virginia Guard member who normally works directly out of the EAES headquarters building in Southwest Asia, joined the team to assist, evaluate aeromed challenges of her personnel and maintain her flying currency.

Four more aeromeds fell under Captain Ferguson's direction during the Wednesday mission. Senior Airman Doyle Cox was the youngest. The medical technician is a California Guard member who had recently turned 20 on his first mission into the AOR. It was Capt. Deborah Wright's third mission into Iraq. The Oklahoma Guardsman, who normally works as a civilian nurse with the Veterans Administration, has more than 14 years experience in the field. Medical Technician Staff Sgt. William Shockely, also from the Oklahoma Guard, rounded-out the crew.

Together, the crew management cell and aeromeds headed to the medical warehouse, where they loaded up hundreds of pounds of equipment into the truck. The machines and supplies included cardiac monitors, defibrillators, liquid oxygen and related intubation devices, and suction and intravenous equipment. The aeromeds even carried their own electrical cables and cords.

By 9 a.m., they were headed to the flightline, where they unloaded the equipment and supplies using patient litters, placing the cargo onto a C-130 Hercules aircraft. Together, they adjusted the stanchions that hold the patient litters, tested the equipment and organized the supplies and medicine. Within an hour, they were off the ground, heading "down range" to pick up patients.

Injuries and illnesses range from complex fractures and shrapnel wounds, to severe trauma cases and critical cardiac care. The teams may also assist transport of human remains. Duty days normally do not exceed 24 hours from the crews' show times.

After multiple stops in the AOR involving hours of patient loading and care, Captain Ferguson and his crew finally returned to Southwest Asia at 9 p.m. In all, the crew had moved 14 patients, the most critical a Soldier severely wounded from shrapnel.

Since January, the 379th AEAS has moved more than 1,600 ambulatory and litter patients on more than 200 missions. All of the missions focus on one priority; moving injured and sick service members and civilians in and out of the AOR.

"It doesn't matter what your opinions are about the world situation are," said Staff Sgt. Kim McCuiston, an Oklahoma Guard member who works in the crisis management center. "You're saving lives and serving a greater cause. No one can disagree with that."

Captain Wright agreed. "It will be hard to give up these flying missions when my AEF
is done," said the nurse. "The mission is exciting and challenging, and the rewards are priceless."