An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Aeromedical evacuation missions: behind the scenes

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Leisa Grant
  • U.S. Air Forces Central Command
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The Air Force and Hollywood have at least one common factor for their successes - teamwork. The talented actors, dialogue and computer-animated environments are not all that make up the silver screens that mesmerize the masses.

The 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron are not making movies, but teamwork is vital to their medical missions - start to finish, and long before they even have patients in their care. While the AE crews are the mission stars, because they are the most visible to their patients and the military community, there are many others involved with each mission. Anyone who has ever sat through the closing credits of a movie knows the list is long - AE is no exception.

Without the contributions of countless other personnel and agencies, the aeromedical missions would not happen.

"It takes a lot of effort to make these operations happen," said Air Force Master Sgt. Lee Kastor, a medical technician assigned to the 137th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Oklahoma Air National Guard. "We don't just hop on a plane and go get people. In order to do this safely, we have to work with everybody."

The initial coordination and communication processes are crucial because missions are generated based on specific patient information, which can change multiple times. It begins with the Aeromedical Evacuation Control Team, the personnel who evaluate patient transport requests, and the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facilities, where patients are being cared for throughout theater. A tasking is then passed on to the Aeromedical Evacuation Operations Team and a crew is then alerted.

From this point, the AE crew has about three hours to accomplish a detailed mission briefing with every member present and an intelligence briefing to ensure they receive the most updated information about the areas they will be operating in.

With the clock still ticking, they have to hustle over to a warehouse containing their medical equipment, where they have to load and perform function checks on every piece of equipment they take.

Any number of factors can delay a crew - briefings can go longer, paperwork can be mixed up - so they have to ensure their processes are as efficient as possible. Having something go wrong on the ground is bad. Having something go wrong in the air is even worse. Their missions are not movie sets and there are no retakes.

"Once you get up in the air, your resources are limited," said Air Force Capt. Casey Patton, a flight nurse assigned to the 137 AES, Oklahoma National Guard.
"There's no calling someone and asking them to bring you blood or additional pain medication."

This is one reason the communication between the different agencies is so important. This exchange of information is what determines the configuration of the aircraft, what medical equipment is taken and other factors affecting the mission.

This also brings in another set of players, for which teamwork is necessary - the aircrew.

Aircrews generally try to maximize each flight with cargo, passengers or a combination of both. When an AE crew is on board, the AE medical crew director is responsible with communicating patient requirements and medical needs so as not to compromise patient care.

"Their mission is priority," said Air Force Master Sgt. Nattessa Tolle, a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft loadmaster assigned to the 731st Airlift Squadron, Peterson Air Force Base, Co. Because of this, loadmasters may have to reject pallets on the ground, especially if the patient count or needs change throughout the mission period. Unlike a regular cargo mission, where the cargo remains the same all throughout the flight, having medical personnel and patients on board may change the course of flight, the altitude or the cargo allowance at the next location.

With multiple agencies and aircrew involved, there is still another set of personnel for which teamwork is the most tight-knit and invaluable - the AE crews themselves.

While many other missions in the Air Force also require Airmen to work together, the flying medical community is unique and their ability to work cohesively is a must.

"There is more at stake," Kastor said. "You don't want anything to go wrong. In dealing with patients, we do not want to 'break' them because they are already broken. It takes more of a team effort because you don't want to make mistakes. Everybody has a part to play, from start to finish."

For the 379 AES, their crews can be the stars of the set one day and working behind the scenes the next day. This is not always the case. For current crews, it started with Air Force Tech. Sgt. Chris Hines, a medical technician assigned to the 908 AES, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

Hines, who has deployed three other times, volunteers his non-alert time to launching crews who are alerted for a mission. Launching involves pre-flighting and loading their gear, transporting it to the aircraft and configuring it once there.

"A lot of stress is placed on the crews to do all the preflight duties and still make an on-time takeoff," he said. As a flying medical technician who goes through this exact process, he knows firsthand how taxing it can be. In fact, he noticed it during his previous deployments and it was back then that he began volunteering his time to help crews.

Why does he do this?

One team, one fight - not just a catchy slogan, but a concept Hines said he was fortunate to have instilled in him by a few senior noncommissioned officers when he was a newly minted AE medical technician as a senior airman. Furthermore, he was taught to do things for others without the expectation of a return favor.

Hines is now joined by other AE crew members, who both launch and recover their fellow crews. The process of recovering is basically the launching steps in reverse.

"All in all, the benefit from all this work is better patient care," he said. "I've noticed when all the work is done, my crew is less stressed and is able to concentrate and provide better quality of care."

Much the same way the end of movie can be powerful or moving, so too are aeromedical evacuation missions.

"I am honored with the mission of bringing our warriors home," Hines said. "All injuries, whether mental of physical, take Airmen, Soldiers, Marines and Seamen out of the fight. I am allowed to participate in getting them either back in the fight or back home to their families."