Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

By Staff Sgt. Fran Frederick
387th Air Expeditionary Group

OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM (AMCNS) -- Providing medical care to injured soldiers and airmen is the main job for 26 active duty and Reserve airmen of the 387th Air Expeditionary Group, located at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia.

Comprising the Expeditionary Mobile Aeromedical Staging Facility staff, these AEG members are a model of the "total force" concept, according to Capt. Karen Rader, EMASF commander.

The deployed medical team's members are what Rader calls multi functional professionals drawn from units stationed at Scott AFB, Ill.; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; Travis AFB, Calif.; and Andrews AFB, Md.

"Our mission is to support air evacuation from forward deployed austere locations and coordinate, manage and transport wounded personnel to points of definitive care," Captain Rader said.

Two Critical Care Air Transport Teams are assigned to the EMASF along with one aircrew. Each CCATT includes a physician, a critical care nurse and a respiratory technician.

The EMASF facility, located within the 387th AEG's installation, has a 10-bed holding capacity, according to Captain Rader.

"We run a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operation," she said.

Captain Rader, a Caribou, Maine, native, is a flight nurse assigned to the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Scott. "I've been incredibly blessed to be the commander of this unit and that is directly reflected through the extreme dedication and professionalism of the total team that stands beside me," she said.

Patients come to EMASF via the Expeditionary Medical Service. Captain Rader said once a primary physician identifies that a patient needs to be evacuated, the patients are placed in one of three categories -- routine, priority or urgent.

"Those with non-life threatening injuries are considered routine and, although they require evacuation, the time frame is more flexible," the EMASF commander said. "Those deemed priority require definitive treatment within 24 hours and evacuation must be expedited.

"The urgent category is reserved for those patients with loss of life, limb or eyesight," she said. "Time is a critical factor in their evacuation."

In coordinating patient care and airlift, Captain Rader said EMASF medical experts remain in close contact with the Joint Patient Movement Requirement Center and Aeromedical Evacuation Control Team, both located at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Since arriving in theater, Captain Rader said the EMASF staff has attended to 35 routine, six priority and two urgent patients. All are now doing well.

Deploying to a remote location offers many challenges and can be expected. But Staff Sgt. Thomas Ricketson said working conditions are quite different than they are at home mainly because there was nothing at their location when they arrived.

"This is something we train for three or four times a year, but this is the first time we've done a bare base set up," Sergeant Ricketson said.

Sergeant Ricketson works as an EMASF medical technician, making sure medical equipment is in working order and providing security to the facility.

Weather conditions are also a factor for conducting doing medical procedures in what some call "the middle of nowhere."

"Dealing with the wind and dust is difficult," said Tech Sgt. Shari Schad. "It's sleeting one day and two days later it's 90 degrees."

Sergeant Schad and other aeromedical evacuation technicians configure aircraft to adapt to patient's needs. Those aircraft include all the "heavies," C-17, C-5, C-130, KC-10 and KC 135.

But despite the obstacles and unpleasantness of a deployed location, Maj. Julie Flynn said missing home seems to be the greatest challenge for this group of men and women.

Major Flynn, stationed at Andrews AFB, is a physician with a background in internal medicine and psychiatry. Although she admits it's difficult being away from family and friends, she said she's "glad to be here supporting our troops. People are getting hurt and I'm glad to be here to help."

Speaking from the Reserve side of the deployment fence, Maj. Skip Mann, aeromedical evacuation crew troop commander, said being a reservist doesn't seem like a part-time commitment. He was deployed for nine months out of the past year in a variety of locations.

"I was able to stay home for the holidays this year; last year I missed them," he said. "The Air Force provides us with everything we need, except our families."

Despite all the challenges, EMASF people continue providing the highest quality care to the injured people trusted to them, Captain Rader said.

And Capt. Michele Shelton, EMASF flight nurse, seemed to sum up the EMASF staff's outlook, saying, "Ever since I came on active duty, I have followed the motto 'C2C' -- courage to challenge. This experience has offered me the opportunity to do just that."