Medical equipment system unfailingly covers wounded warriors

Published April 7, 2011
By 1st Lt. Kathleen Ferrero
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- You're riding in a convoy in Afghanistan on the way back to your base, joking with your friend about his obsession with "Dancing with the Stars" and daydreaming about eating hot wings for dinner when you notice your vehicle driver squint at the road just before an explosion blacks you out.

Someone squeezes your hand, and you open your eyes to see your mom's face. She says your spine was injured during an improvised explosive device attack on your convoy. She assures you that you'll be okay.

What you don't know is that you're going to be okay mainly because a bean bag-like board was available to compress around and stabilize your spine during the 39-hour trip from Afghanistan to Maryland. The Vacuum Spinal Board is one piece in a logistical orchestra that keeps medical equipment flowing to warfighters in need.

The Patient Movement Items program, managed by the AMC Surgeon General's office, acquires and tracks medical equipment for patient transport across Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine platforms.

"In the last 10 years, we have never delayed (patient) movement because of a PMI shortage," said Ms. Lisa Dedecker, U.S. Transportation Command Surgeon General's office.

This wasn't the case in past conflicts.

During Vietnam and Desert Shield/Desert Storm, "When we air evac'ed patients out of a medical treatment facility, that equipment to support that evacuation came at a cost to that facility. So that facility was degraded in their capability to treat more patients," said Mr. Randy Rodgers, AMC's deputy chief of logistics and acquisitions for medical readiness. He said medical personnel would have to scramble to find equipment somewhere else or purchase more.

By the mid-1990's, the Deputy AMC Surgeon created the idea of moving patients using recycled medical equipment. Their idea was taken to medical logisticians, who made it happen.

"This had never been done before," said Ms. Lisa Dedecker, U.S. Transportation Command Surgeon General's office.

What resulted was a patient movement items "recycling" system that exchanges like items without degrading medical capability.

Now, for example, medical equipment gets scanned out of a hospital in Afghanistan and supports a patient on an aeromedical evacuation flight to Germany. It gets scanned in at Germany and goes to the PMI center, and from the center it's ready for its next mission.

This recycling system has saved the Air Force approximately $145 million dollars in the last three years, Mr. Rodgers said.

There are 37 PMI locations around the world, and 20 are at forward operating bases, he said.

The PMI system has become "pretty transparent" for medical logisticians at war, Ms. Dedecker said. "Because we have improved so dramatically, and we are so proactive that they don't worry that there won't be equipment. They expect and are satisfied that they know it'll be there."

In Southwest Asia, PMI Cell Manager Master Sgt. Kingsley Parker is working with the system for the first time in his 13 years as a medical "loggie." He regularly stays in touch with AMC/SG to review weekly reports and prevent possible equipment shortages.

"We work hard here at (the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center - Southwest Asia) to ensure equipment on hand is serviceable and available when it's needed," Sergeant Kingsley said.

Managing the PMI system is a fast-paced process, but one that's rewarding, he said.

"The daily mission gives us a sense of accomplishment and personal pride in knowing that we've contributed to providing world-class patient care to the deployed healthcare system," Sergeant Kingsley said.

Hard-working logisticians like Sergeant Kingsley can also appreciate the system's flexibility.

"Let's say today things change, and you know that two days you're going to need more equipment: you can just make a phone call," said Mr. Rodgers.

"We changed our medical response to meet war-fighting changes, and it required very agile medical logistics to support agile fighting," Ms. Dedecker said.

With the plus-up in Afghanistan last year came a larger demand for medical support - and increased demand for standardization among those who use the system.

The Air Force PMI inventory is programmed to support all services and multiple platforms, to include rotary, fixed-wing and sealift, Ms. Dedecker said. Coalition partners also use PMI equipment on their platforms based on their own tests or based on satisfactory results from U.S. Air Force tests.

AMC/SG staff members regularly insert themselves into joint pre-deployment exercises and other training venues to familiarize medical personnel with the PMI program. They also conduct on-site training in deployed environments.

"I was just a PMI manager in Afghanistan," said Maj. Jose Sorto, and AMC/SG staff member who recently returned from deployment. "We worked with Coalition partners there, and they were all over it. You've got to educate them and show them what PMI is and how the system is critical to the movement of our patients, that it's saving lives. The British doctors there saw how it worked, and they loved it."

The fine-tuned PMI system helps sustain a continuum of care that makes it possible for even critical patients to fly around the world to a specialized medical facility in the United States.

"We used to transport 'stabilized;' now we're transporting 'stabilizing' patients," Ms. Dedecker said. "We move patients 3,000 miles that a civilian entity wouldn't consider moving 50 miles."