Aeromedical evacuation team tops 500 transports

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joshua Jasper
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  The only Air Force medical unit in Afghanistan with the mission of transporting injured military warriors, as well as injured civilians and enemy combatants, has cared for, and transported, more than 508 patients since May.
 
The members of the 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight team, made up of 17 National Guardsmen and 9 active duty personnel, transport the patients from any place in Afghanistan to the medical care they need via fixed-wing aircraft.

"Our goal is to get people to Bagram  Air Base, Afghanistan, within 12 hours and to Germany within 24 hours of the time they suffer their injury," said 1st Lt. John Rinaldo, a flight nurse here who also works as a civilian telemetry nurse back at the University of California Irvine Medical Center.

"With such an important mission, they (coalition forces) need to know that there is a system in place to get them immediate care if they are injured," he said. 

Since they are the only Air Force AE flight here, their operations tempo is high. Up to twice a day, they load nearly 800 pounds of medical equipment aboard a C-130 Hercules to care for the wounded during transport from forward operating bases across Afghanistan, said medical officials. 

"The hardest part about this job is transporting injured personnel that we know will have change of life challenges, depending on the severity of their injuries," said Lt. Col. James Bruhl, the 455th EAEF commander.  "The most rewarding part is knowing that we are there when they need us in the most timely manner possible, with a skill set that provides the best chance of recovery." 

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