The business of saving lives: airlifting wounded warriors

  • Published
  • By Maj. Ann Peru Knabe
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  It was Capt. Tracy Shamburger’s first flight with a new crew from the 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. The Air Force Reservist, who teaches nursing at the University of South Alabama, had served as a medical crew director before and she clearly knew the ropes.

Her five-person medical team met shortly after 8 a.m. at the crew management cell, then moved on to an intelligence and mission briefing. Their mission was simple -- save lives by safely moving patients to appropriate medical facilities. Nine patients were logged into the aeromedical evacuation system for pick-up -- five ambulatory and four on litters. But the crew knew it could change.

“There are always surprises,” said Staff Sgt. Joshua Burris, a medical technician from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. “Today will be no different.”

By 9 a.m., the crew had logged its equipment into the computer system. Using a barcode scanning system, the medics tracked every piece of equipment going on the plane. Within an hour, they were uploading cardiac monitors, intravenous bags and other equipment and supplies, along with their flak vests and Kevlar helmets, onto the C-130 Hercules from Dyess AFB, Texas.

Armed with 9 mm pistols, they knew they were flying into enemy territory.

The first stop was Ali Base in Iraq. Throughout the flight, the medics read, joked around and rested for the long day ahead. The mood was jovial as the team got to know each other; three were on their first flight into Iraq, with only two seasoned veterans on this run.

Within 20 minutes of landing, however, the tone changed. The plane became strangely quiet as everyone donned their body armor.

One of the most dangerous parts of each mission is the arrival and landing phase. Today’s mission included three stops at bases in Iraq. The medics hung low as the loadmasters scanned the sky for signs of enemy activity. The 745th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron pilot, Lt. Col. Joseph Sexton, pulled the throttles back, nosed the airplane over and flew a high-altitude rapid descent into the airfield in attempts to avoid hostile fire.

Once on the ground, the crew moved quickly. Patients were carefully lifted onto the aircraft, with litters tightly secured in place.

As predicted by Sergeant Burris, the patient numbers were already changing. The medics loaded three litter patients onto the plane. One Soldier had survived an improvised explosive device attack that destroyed his vehicle. Another was recovering from emergency bowel surgery and a third was going in for magnetic resonance imaging for a knee injury. Other patients walked on the plane, sitting next to an Army infantry group returning from four days of “R and R” in Southwest Asia.

“Two words,” said Staff Sgt. Thomas Ricketson. “Opportune airlift.”

The medical technician, who is deployed from Scott AFB, Ill., said when there is room for passengers or pallets, the aircrew take them along, even if they are unexpected.

Swift thinking was the name of the game at the next stop in Mosul. The Army showed up seeking space for 34 Soldiers. All 34 lined up side by side on the cargo seats toward the front of the plane. With some creative placement of passengers and bags, the C-130, weighing 130,000 pounds and full of cargo, patients and passengers, climbed effortlessly into the sky.

The sun fell just below the horizon as the medical team arrived at Balad Air Base, Iraq. Everyone, including patients, exited the plane while it was refueled. Once again, the medical team loaded injured and sick Soldiers onto the plane. A few more litter patients were carefully loaded; one needed oxygen. Captain Shamburger monitored the patient’s oxygen levels throughout the flight, frequently checking his pulse and blood pressure.

By the time the C-130 flew out of Balad with 55 “souls on board,” the full moon illuminated the glowing monitors on the flight deck. The aircrew donned night vision goggles and flew in total darkness to avoid hostile fire from the ground. The aircraft made one more stop that night before heading back to home base.

By the end of the mission, more than 13 patients and 41 passengers had been safely moved.

But the night wasn’t over. The crew unloaded their last patients, downloaded their supplies, inventoried their flight kits in the warehouse and filed post-flight paperwork. Back at the coalition compound, the medics grabbed a late-night dinner in the dining facility. Their heads finally hit their pillows close to 2 a.m.

They would be on alert again in just 12 hours.