Medical care in the air

Published June 16, 2006
By Senior Airman Brian Ferguson
U.S. Central Command Air Forces Public Affairs

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- It was only a 30-minute flight from Bagram to Salerno, Afghanistan, and the C-130 Hercules carried four pallets and two passengers.

When it returned, that 30-minute flight proved to be just one leg of a longer aeromedical evacuation mission that would eventually take two wounded soldiers to Lundstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany.

“It is very rewarding to be able to get these troops out,” said Capt. Kathy Martin, aeromedical evacuation flight nurse.

And getting troops out depends on the 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight, aeromedical evacuation crew at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

A standard crew consists of a flight nurse and two aero-medical evacuation technicians.

“Our job is to pick up patients from combat surgical hospitals or field surgical teams and provide in-flight patient care during transport. The facilities here can provide more definitive care to stabilize the patient for travel to Germany, and if necessary, home,” Captain Martin said.

All Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines wounded in Afghanistan will come to Bagram before being transported out of the country, and the aeromedical evacuation crews here will transport and care for the majority of them.

“Improvised explosive devices are a problem,” said Aeromedical Technician Staff Sgt Jodi Gragg, “We see more of them than anything.”

In less than ideal conditions, crews here continue to provide injured personnel the medical treatment they need, even though medical evacuation missions here have almost doubled since 2005.

“During Vietnam it could to take up to 30 or 35 days for a soldier to get back to the states,” Sergeant Gragg said. “To move them as far as they go in just a few days is incredible. I know it would be important to me.”

From the time of injury stabilization, a patient can be transported to Lundstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, in as little as 24 hours, and depending on the severity of the injury, can be transported back to the United States in as little as 72 hours, according to crew members.

“The patients on this mission were in stable condition,” Captain Martin said. “The litter patient was awake and alert, and he said thank you. That’s a hero. We should be telling him thank you.”

With troops still on the ground in Afghanistan, the mission of the aeromedical evacuation crew is far from finished.

“These Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are strong and they are tough,” Sergeant Gragg said. “We are just taking care of those who are taking care of us.”