MASF not MASH vital location for wounded

  • Published
  • By Capt. Jennifer Gerhardt
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. (AFPN) --  The classic television show MASH always began with doctors and flight nurses running to the helicopter to retrieve wounded patients and rushing them to the medical emergency tent.

In real-life, that role is often reversed, said medical members taking part in the Pacific Lifeline exercise in Hawaii. 

Today, military medical personnel keep wounded patients stabilized at a Mobile Aeromedical Staging Facility until an aircraft arrives and then they rush the patients to the plane. The MASF is a vital location for wounded civilians as well as military.

Pacific Lifeline is a total force exercise designed to train the military to rapidly arrive and leave a specialized, equipped team anywhere in the Pacific in response to a humanitarian assistance or disaster scenario. More than 900 Department of Defense personnel are participating in the exercise now through Feb. 9. 

The purpose of a MASF is to stage and care for patients prior to getting on the plane. It is comprised of medical services officers, flight nurses, aeromedical technicians, aeromedical administrators and radio operators. 

"The most fascinating thing about the MASF is that we are mobile," said Maj. Sabrina Luttrell, with the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, and the MASF team chief for the exercise. "We can go anywhere within 24 hours and be ready to take patients within an hour." 

The MASF is different from a Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility because MASFs are used early in wartime or humanitarian operations. However, once the situation becomes more stable, the CASF moves in to take care over patient care. Another difference is the MASF can only hold a maximum of 40 patients for 72 hours. However, they usually hold patients 6-10 hours. 

The MASF has several pieces of medical equipment including defibulators and ventilators. The flight nurses and technicians can also fly with the patient if needed. 

Once a physician identifies a patient needs to be evacuated, the patients are placed in one of three categories: routine, priority or urgent. 

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

Maj. Jackie Jackson, a flight nurse with the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, is in charge of patient care and can transport patients with aeromedical equipment if necessary.

"Once the patient arrives at the MASF, we reassess the stresses of flight on them," said Major Jackson. "We also make sure they have enough meds to last the duration of the flight or at least until they can be resupplied. We want to make sure they continue in the AE system and get any treatment they need."

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