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Scott medics train with critical care teams

  • Published
  • By 375th Air Mobility Wing
  • 375th AMW
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Teamwork ... that's what it takes to get injured Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, coalition forces and civilians home safely and into the arms of their loved ones. And that's exactly what the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and their aeromedical evacuation crews have been doing in support of training Air Force Critical Care Air Transport Teams, or CCATT.

Five members of the 375th AES traveled to Louisville, Ky., Feb. 8, and Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 10, to participate in the graduation exercise for the CCATT Advanced Course at the Center for Sustainment of Training and Readiness Skills, or C-STARS, in Cincinnati, Ohio. They configured a C-130 aircraft in Louisville, and flew a training mission to Cincinnati with the Kentucky Air National Guard's 123rd Operations Group. The crew from Scott included three aeromedical evacuation technicians, two flight nurses and one mission clinical coordinator.

Lt. Col. Lisa McKinney, 375th AES director of operations, said the medical personnel from Scott are training for interactions between CCATT and AE crews when they have critical patients on board an aircraft.

Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Douglas Robb, the command surgeon for Air Mobility Command, visited the Airmen of the 375th AES Friday to thank them for their involvement in the program.  During his visit, the general introduced incoming Mobilization Assistant, Col. (Dr.) Jay Johannigman, who works with the C-Stars program in Cincinnati.  Colonel Johannigman is taking over the Mobilization Assistant position from Brig. Gen. Daniel Gillen, who has been assigned to the Pentagon.

General Robb, General Gillen and Colonel Johannigman each spoke to the 375th AES personnel about the important relationship between the CCATT and AE crews.

"I can't thank you enough for what you bring to our ability to train our CCATT teams," Colonel Johannigman said.

AE crews and CCATT teams are closely linked in today's capability to rapidly move casualties from the battlefield to higher levels of medical care. AE crews provide the expertise in aircraft systems interface and mission management, enabling the CCATTs to focus on medical management of the critically injured patients. It is crucial to the success of both the CCATT mission and the AE mission as a whole, for AE crews and CCATTs to train together.

The addition of an intensive care unit capability on mobility aircraft has added a revolutionary dimension to the AE mission. Unlike hospitals where there are many medical providers and sophisticated equipment at immediate disposal, we entrust the air-transport and care of our most critically injured warriors to a CCATT team of just three critical care professionals and the AE crews.

Armed with advanced equipment and their personal skills, they transport patients thousands of miles from the point of injury to higher levels of medical care.