JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- Fifteen medical professionals from the island of Oahu visited Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to get eyes on the U.S. Air Force’s aeromedical evacuation system and its capabilities, April 10.
The AE (Aeromedical Evacuation) system provides worldwide coverage, capable of evacuating patients from nearly any location around the globe. This includes both combat zones and humanitarian missions.
The visitors were able to witness the 15th Medical Group conduct an exercise, establishing an En Route Patient Staging System and watched as simulated patients were loaded onto an Ambulance Bus and taken to a C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft.
“We appreciate the expertise of our local community hospitals. Their partnership is crucial both in peacetime and wartime, helping us save as many lives as possible. In the event of a mass evacuation in the Indo-Pacific region, Hawaii would be an important receiving location for casualties.” said Col. Susan Moran, Pacific Air Forces Command Surgeon.
While at the C-17, the medical professionals were able to talk to aircrew, aeromedical evacuation teams, and critical care transport teams and see how they transport patients throughout the region.
“The Queens Health System is a level one trauma center,” said Kara Gormont, Queens Health System Vice President, Enterprise Access and Interim Ambulatory Services—and former 15th MDG commander. “If we do have a scenario where casualties are in Hawaii, we will be partners so it’s good for us to think through and be able to understand processes and procedures before we are in the situation.”
Building the relationships with their civilian counterparts and knowing each other’s strengths will go a long way in ensuring working together in the future will be seamless.
“Today was a great opportunity to showcase our unique military capabilities and learn from each other,” said Moran. “Working hand-in-hand, we are a stronger medical system to care for America’s sons and daughters.”