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Airlifting wounded warriors

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jeff Loftin
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Caring for a double amputee in an aircraft high above the area of responsibility as it jostles toward its destination is a difficult endeavor, but one Airmen from the 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron call the best job in the Air Force. 

"It's very humbling to me and very much an honor," said Maj. Susan Behrens, the unit's chief nurse. "I have the greatest job. It's like taking care of my kids ... I take care of them so they can do their job the very best they can. You can't tell people what that is like." 

The unit airlifts patients on tankers and cargo aircraft to locations around the AOR, and out of it. The squadron members transport patients with a wide variety of medical problems to where they can get the best treatment. 

"We get patients from explosions, patients with multiple fractures, motor vehicle accident (injuries), sports injuries, psych patients," said Major Behrens, a Finlayson, Minn., native. "There are gastrointestinal problems. There are head injuries. We have to know a little bit about everything." 

Staff Sgt. Rebecca Jaudon, a squadron crew member, added burn victims and gunshots to the major's list of medical conditions they care for in flight. 

"I've had a patient with third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body, and I've had someone with a sprained ankle from a sports injury," said Sergeant Jaudon. "It really depends." 

Caring for wounded warriors with a variety of medical conditions is further complicated by the flight itself. 

"What happens when you take them up where the air is really thin and you are vibrating on a plane," asked Major Behrens, a member of the Minnesota Air National Guard. "You have to know what that does to a fracture or an injury and how to take care of it. It is a whole different medicine in itself." 

The squadron stands ready to provide that expertise 24/7. In addition to its weekly missions the unit provides the only "alpha alert" air medical transport team in the theater. The alpha alert team must be at the aircraft in 10 minutes and be ready to take off in one hour. Alert missions can come at any time making it difficult for the five-member crews to know when to sleep. 

"We've had times when we've had quick mission launches in the middle of the night," said Lt. Col. Georgeanne Johnson, 379 EAES commander. "They'll call up in the middle of the night and say to whoever is up we're launching a mission can anybody come up and help? They are over there to help right away. Everybody pitches in." 

The key to the unit meeting the timelines is the squadron's operations team, according to the commander. The team is responsible for preparing for the mission, working the patient manifest and paperwork and configuring the aircraft for medical airlift. 

"We have crews who aren't on duty to help get the equipment ready and preflight it," said the Eagin, Minn., native. "They go out to the alert facility to load all their stuff on a big truck. They go out to the aircraft and configure it. We have to configure everything and bring all of our equipment on before each mission." 

It takes about six hours of preparation for a normal mission to get the aircraft ready for patients and to load the 600 pounds of medical equipment. If the mission calls for transporting warriors in critical condition, the unit adds a three-person Critical Care Air Transport Team and another 600 pounds of equipment. Flights with the CCATT often pick up patients from Iraq or Afghanistan and transport them to Germany. 

Typical missions for the squadron can range from 12 to 16 hours, but can go as long as 24 hours. 

"On a typical mission once you get to your starting point it is really busy," said Sergeant Jaudon, a Clarksburg, W.V., native. "It's about two and a half hours up there and then it is about 30 minutes between stops. You are up and down. You are only on the ground for about 25 minutes at each place. It is dark. You're on the flightline, but you can't go out and use flashlights because depending on where you are everyone may be using (night vision goggles). It's definitely a contingency situation." 

The experiences the flight crew has with the patients on typical missions is anything but typical. 

"One of the first missions I did was a (coming) back from Germany to the states hauling kids," said Major Behrens as she started choking up. "We had 74 patients on board. It was in a C-141 so it was kind of dark. I had to crawl up the litters to start an IV on a young man that was up there. He said to me, 'Ma'am can you just stay here with me for a little bit and hold my hand. You remind me of my mom.'" 

Interacting one-on-one with wounded warriors is why many squadron members endure the long hours, unpredictable schedules and emotional stress of their job. 

"It's emotionally draining, because you really do care about these people," said Sergeant Jaudon, deployed from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. "Some of them are really hurt and you just don't know what is going to happen to them. We really care about them or we wouldn't be in this job. Some patients we'll never forget." 

Colonel Johnson, a member of the Minnesota Air National Guard, is a critical care nurse in her civilian job, but said working with military members is an entirely different experience. 

"It is a job that is our honor and privilege to do," she said. "I truly think it is the best job in the Air Force. It is important we constantly have our skills up to speed and that we are ready to go at any time. We never know what we might see when we open that aircraft door and start loading patients."