Airmen, Soldiers participate in medical evacuation training

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amanda Savannah
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFNS) --  Approximately 40 Airmen from the 8th Medical Group participated in medical evacuation training here Jan. 19. The Airmen also trained with Army medics and pilots from the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade at Camp Humphreys, South Korea.

The 8th MDG Airmen, who were mainly flight surgeons, doctors, nurses and technicians, worked alongside Army UH-60 Black Hawk pilots and their flight medics. Together, the total-force contingent learned medical evacuation operations around the helicopter.

Maj. Karen Hines, the 8th Medical Operations Squadron health and wellness center director, was involved with inviting the Camp Humphreys team to Kunsan AB to help familiarize 8th Fighter Wing medics with the medical evacuation concept.

"Any time a patient needs to move urgently to a higher echelon of care, that's when you would consider a medevac," Major Hines said. "We also call it a 'dust off.' In this situation, someone who has to get out that quickly is seriously injured."

"A lot of times, medevac situations don't take place in ideal conditions like this, with the rotors off and the sun shining," Major Hines said. "It could be in low light during a hot onload, so the more familiar we are with the scenario and the equipment, the more prepared we will be."

The training focused on both cold and hot loading, which is loading patients onto the helicopter with the rotor off for cold loading, and the rotor on for hot loading.

Capt. Jared Brynildsen, a Camp Humphreys UH-60 pilot, was one of the Soldiers who assisted the Airmen in the medical evacuation training.

"Once the blades start spinning, the significance of safety goes way up," Captain Brynildsen said. "That's why they're practicing it now, so they know how to approach when the rotor is spinning."

Army Staff Sgt. Reginald Jones, a Camp Humphreys helicopter flight medic, began the training by explaining what equipment he keeps on board, the helicopter's different patient configuration capabilities, the training requirements and the pros and cons of being a flight medic.

"To be a flight medic, we must take a flight medical course with different levels of life support and basically learn how to prepare to fix any injury that's caused," Sergeant Jones said. "It's very rewarding, and I get to see and experience a lot, but it's very difficult working in this environment."

Once the question and answer portion of the training took place, the Soldiers began with hands-on instruction. The 8th MDG Airmen took part in many aspects of the helicopter medical evacuation training, including how to load and unload patients during a real-world scenario.

Staff Sgt. Wilsondo Alteus, an 8th MDOS flight medicine technician, said he enjoyed learning how to load and offload patients from the aircraft.

"I've done this before with just the litters, but walking onto the helicopter was totally different," Sergeant Alteus said. "We're watching how to load and offload patients while making sure we're safe, the patient is safe and that everything is done the way it's supposed to be done."

Sergeant Alteus said he also saw how parts of the mission are more difficult than others.

"Loading the patient is the easy part, but trying to be sure you come in quickly at the right angle and that the patient is safe is hard," he said. "Watching how they configure the aircraft also looks challenging."

Tech. Sgt. Daniel Johnson, the 8th Medical Support Squadron NCO in charge of outpatient records, said he wished he had encountered this training before his deployment.

"We were able to see what our sister service does (for medical evacuation missions) on this peninsula in a controlled environment," Sergeant Johnson said. "The last time I got this type of training, I had mortars landing around me. This training was perfect for my career field. As a 4A0 (health services management technician), we offload patients directly off the helicopter. Many people have not been in front of a real helicopter, and this gives us the opportunity to see what it's really like."