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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- More than 70 years ago, the
first flight nurse graduated from the flight nurse course on
Bowman Field, Ky. They trained to provide a higher level of
care to patients while they traveled by aircraft to other
medical facilities.
Today , the flight nurses and
technicians of the 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical
Evacuation Squadron keep that level of care going in the
skies above Afghanistan.
The 455th EAES provides
medical and nursing care in flight to ill or injured
servicemembers or Department of Defense civilians. They
perform their mission on fixed wing aircraft, including the
C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 Hercules and KC-135 Stratotanker,
and can provide extensive critical care capability equal to
the level of care that patients receive at the Craig Joint
Theater Hospital here.
Members of the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility and 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron assist patients on a C-130 Hercules on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Feb. 2 1, 2013. The CASF is the relay between the Craig Joint Theater Hospital and aeromedical evacuation missions. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Chris Willis)
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“Our job is to move the sick and injured through the area of
responsibility of Afghanistan,” said Col. Edward Farley,
455th EAES commander. “We obviously don't want to be very
busy because that means that something bad has happened, and
we have to move our servicemembers or our coalition partners
to a higher level of care.”
Farley, deployed from
Scott Air Force Base, Ill., leads 48 medical personnel with
teams of four basic crews consisting of two flight nurses
and three emergency medical technicians. All flight crew
members received specialized altitude training to become
universally qualified to move patients by aircraft.
Tech. Sgt. Alejandro Rojas is a 455th EAES medical
technician and says the hardest part about his job is the
uncertainty of the missions but his team trains for the
unexpected.
“Each of our teams preps and configures
all of our equipment the same way,” he said. “That way no
matter what aircraft or patients we get, we are ready.”
He also likes to point out that even though his unit
doesn't always stay extremely busy, primarily during the
winter seasons, the necessity to have them is
unquestionable.
“We are like life insurance,” he
said. “We are expensive and we are not always busy, which is
good, but you are really happy to have us when something
goes wrong.”
Working as a cohesive unit the members
of the 455th EAES are a mix of Air Force active-duty, guard
and reserve members from bases all over the globe. Rojas'
home station is Kadena Air Base, Japan, while other team
members are from stateside bases like Joint Base
McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
Farley believes his team
works well together because of the awesome responsibility of
their mission and just how worthwhile it can be.
“The
team encounters these young and brave men and women that
have gotten injured while serving their country,” he said.
“We get to take them by the hand and look them in the eyes
to tell them just how proud of them we are.”
More photos available below
By USAF Staff Sgt. Christopher Willis
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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