WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- A soldier gets injured in Iraq and needs to be transported. A Department of Defense civilian is suffering from a heart condition in Africa. Wounded servicemembers and DOD civilians need emergency medical attention and equipment for their care.
What do all these people have in common? An Aeromedical Evacuation crew saving their lives.
In addition to strategic transport and operational readiness, one of the primary missions of the 445th Airlift Wing is aeromedical evacuation—using military transport aircraft that is turned into a flying ambulance to carry wounded personnel from military operations, providing humanitarian assistance or responding to disaster situations. It’s a mission carried out by more than 130 flight nurses, medical technicians, aeromedical evacuation operations officers, and logisticians in the Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron.
“AE Operations Teams support the mission to move sick and injured warriors. The primary mission is to train, so we are prepared to deploy anywhere, anytime to ensure patients that need care in the air are provided the best care possible,” said Lt. Col. Todd Mulhorn, 445th AES operations officer.
The 445th AES is a blend of skill sets; all flight nurses are also civilian nurses, but medical technicians aren’t necessarily in civilian medical fields. They complete basic emergency medical technician training through the Air Force.
Many Airmen in the unit have different jobs that do not require them to fly; however, an AES Airman’s primary work center is thousands of feet in the air. In the cabin or cargo area of an airplane, Airmen closely tend to their patient's urgent medical needs while flying to a U.S. military or interim hospital to receive full-time care.
Although 445th AES does not have physicians, a Critical Care Transport Team can be provided for patients. The 445th CCAT team includes: critical care physician, critical care nurse and cardiopulmonary technician. AES Airmen are also Medical Service Corps officers (administrators), flight nurses, administrative technicians, squadron aviation resource managers, flight medical technicians, logistics personnel and communications personnel.
To become an AES Airman, it can take up to 18 months to include: basic training, medical technical school, and phase training. They also need to complete survival, evasion, resistance and escape training, water survival, flight school, a ground school or formal training unit and qualify to fly. This training is usually accomplished during a progression tour and can take up to another year to complete.
After getting qualified, Airmen must maintain their currency by flying and completing other courses. Their competence is formally assessed during a check ride, but they can be given a no-notice check ride or downgraded if their performance is below standards at any time.
A unique area of AE training is altitude physiology, studying how the human body responds at different altitudes. Several AE team members get to put the training into practice on real-world missions returning troops to their hometowns.
When flying, there are different hazards Airmen face and patients are depending on 445th AES to get them the proper medical care and attention. In an aircraft, setting up a hospital environment takes time. Some aircraft require the Airmen to bring their own oxygen and remember to convert the electricity, bringing every piece of equipment they may or may not use with them.
Real-world training on cross-country missions can take up to 16 hours. The unit flies local missions, cross-country missions, and operational missions. In a four-month rotation, Airmen fly approximately 25-100 missions, as well as supporting static missions to demonstrate their jobs to groups such as Scouts, Civil Air Patrol cadets and civic leaders.
According to an Air Force fact sheet, the majority of AE support is provided by the Air Force Reserve. The Air National Guard has nine AE squadrons and the Air Force Reserve Command has 18.
When combined with ground medical units, the Air National Guard and Reserve account for 70 percent of AE forces supporting the AE system.