Medical teams, volunteers help patients during weather-related delays

Published Feb. 24, 2010
By 2nd Lt. Daniel Riley
375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- As the East Coast was digging out of the largest snow falls in recent history, this seemingly East Coast concern happening hundreds of mile away afforded Scott AFB's Airmen and families an opportunity to come together and volunteer to help their fellow military family.

With more than 20 inches of snow covering the ground in Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, an aeromedical flight originating in Germany had to divert to Scott AFB. Airmen from the 375th Aeromedical Staging Flight received only a two-hour notice of the inbound flight and quickly assembled to receive 44 patients, 22 of them on litters. These 44 patients joined several others who were already in there, pushing the patient count to 51 - a local record - in a facility with 17 rooms designed to hold 40 patients.

The weather divert came as most people were in the comfort of their living rooms watching the Super Bowl with family and friends. However, more than 30 volunteers from Scott answered the call to help these wounded warriors.

Moving and holding this many patients required the facility to meet requirements never before seen here, said Capt. Liam Aponte, ASF flight commander.

"With this many patients, there's a need for volunteers," she said. "We put the call out and we got volunteers right away. It was a great Team Scott effort!"

Volunteers helped carry litters and luggage as well as sort through more than 100 personal items. They were also on hand inside the ASF to assist as needed. Additionally, more than 10 personnel from the 375th Medical Group volunteered their medical expertise.

Other volunteer organizations provided support as well. Operation Home Front purchased 25 pizzas for the patients, and the Sons of the American Legion and POW/MIA council helped to stock the patient snack area with food and drinks. The ASF team also received aid from the Hope for Heroes Program and the USO.

Thanks to the work of the volunteers, the patients were afforded the opportunity to do what the volunteers gave up: watch the Super Bowl.

During the next two weeks, ASF worked several other weather divert missions, including another large movement of 31 patients. Throughout the month, people such as Army Staff Sgt. Luis Dandrade, assigned to the USTRANSCOM, worked to gather the volunteers and re-supply the ASF shelves with comfort items for the patients.
Sergeant Dandrade, who has volunteered with the ASF since May 2008, coordinates more than 45 others in this effort throughout the year.

"At first [volunteering] was just something to do each Saturday, but it quickly turned into more than that as I came to understand what the ASF was all about and as I got to see how it affects our servicemembers," he said. "Now we've expanded our outreach to many other organizations who want to do something for our wounded warriors. It's great to part of this effort."

These weather diverts represents a fraction of the many successful aeromedical missions received by a facility that has transferred more than 9,500 air evacuation patients since 2003. On average they transfer about 1,500 patients a year and about 350 of those are housed overnight in the facility.

Captain Aponte added, "The best thing [about being with the ASF] is the serving. You work with people at some of the worst times of their lives, and you do everything in your power to make it better."