Staging flight sees lull in hectic routine

  • Published
  • By Louis A. Arana-Barradas
  • Air Force Print News
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  The 435th Contingency Aeromedical Staging Flight’s large, 86-bed, open-bay ward was empty, so Staff Sgt. Desiree Wilson busied herself doing chores.

The brightly lit ward was eerily peaceful, thanks to an unexpected lull here Aug. 8 in the busy business of aeromedical evacuation. So, all alone in the ward, the medical technician donned purple latex gloves and filled plastic bags with bed linens and towels that needed laundering.

But such quiet days are not the norm, she said.

Ramstein is a major hub in the aeromedical evacuation pipeline leading from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to U.S. military hospitals. So the flight’s mixed crew of Airmen, Soldiers and Marines provide around-the-clock assistance in moving about 330 patients a week.

“We see everything from A to Z,” said Sergeant Wilson, from New Richmond, Wis. “But we never know what (kinds of patients) we’re going to get. We see everything from minor injuries to things that are absolutely astonishing. Things you’d think would never happen.”

However, the care providers are well prepared to deal with any situation, so they stay busy. From mid-April through late July, for example, they received or loaded more than 4,770 patients, flight officials said. More than 225 of those needed critical care during every mile of their trip to a military hospital.

When wounded are due to arrive, the flight goes into action, Sergeant Wilson said.

“Depending on the patient load, we break down tasks by person,” she said.

Helping make those decisions is part of the sergeant’s job as a day shift leader. She helps decide which nurses and medical technicians will be on -- and who will drive -- the big blue bus ambulance that brings patients to nearby Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

Capt. Mared Beling, a registered nurse deployed to the flight from Dover Air Force Base, Del., has seen plenty of action. Since arriving in April, the captain from Pittsburgh has seen more than 1,500 wounded pass through the staging facility. Most are what the staff calls the “walking wounded,” servicemembers hurt enough so they cannot perform their job at 100 percent. But the staff also sees amputees and patients maimed by the shrapnel of improvised explosive devices.

“It’s a hard thing to deal with, and my heart pours out to them,” Captain Beling said.

But flight members carry on. They must, because they run a 24-hour operation. The flight coordinates patient movements with the medics who treat them and the Airmen who move them. At Ramstein that includes meeting patients at the plane and bringing them to the Landstuhl hospital for more definitive care. Flight members also transport them from the hospital to the airplanes that will ferry them to a stateside hospital.

Captain Beling accompanies many patients on the 20-minute ride to and from Landstuhl. She ensures her patients get their comfort needs. That includes providing them everything from pain medications, to a glass of water or someone who will just listen.

“We’re all here to support our patients,” she said.

But providing support can be a tough task. Though the flight’s mission is vital within the global aeromedical evacuation system, the extent of the injuries medics see almost daily can be mentally tasking.

“It’s a very sobering experience because I’ve never dealt with anything like this before,” said Senior Airman Laura Ramirez, a Reserve medical technician from Lackland AFB, Texas, who is on her first deployment.

But for a brief time Aug. 8, there were no patients on the ward’s neatly arranged stretcher-like beds. No doctors, nurses or medical technicians provided care to wounded troops. No medevac flights to coordinate. No patients to console.

During the welcomed calm, some Airmen reflected on the job they do and the people they help.

Captain Beling said many of the wounded are amputees she finds “very stoic.” Most were injured less than 48 hours before arriving here. Seeing such young people lose a limb “is a very hard thing to deal with” each day, she said.

“After a while you get a little numb to it,” the captain said. To carry on, “I just try to keep a positive attitude and help these heroes get back home safely.”

Airman Ramirez, who is from San Antonio, is bubbly, chatty and ever smiling. She uses her infectious personality to help her deal with the patients she helps. She likes to talk to the patients and make them feel as at home as possible.

“If they want to talk, I talk,” she said. “And I make them laugh. After what they’ve gone through, they just want to see a smiling face and somebody that’ll listen to them.”

Still, the young Airman has a hard time dealing with some of the feelings her patients pour out in their attempt to cope with their injuries. And it surprises her that many Soldiers are more concerned about their troops than their injuries.

“Mostly it’s the platoon leaders who had to leave their guys back there,” she said. “Somebody else is in charge of their troops and they feel like they’re abandoning their comrades.”

She said it is also tough hearing the stories about what some of the men and women she helps face when they return home. Some have had deaths in the family while fighting the war on terrorism. Others return to broken families and divorce. Many return to an uncertain future.

“Hearing these things kind of gets to you after a while,” she said. As a form of solace, she keeps in touch via e-mail with many of her former patients.

Sergeant Wilson has heard a million horror stories from the troops she has met and helped. But after a year on the job, she has learned to deal with working at the staging flight. Today, she shows the maturity that comes with knowing the turf where she works and the importance of the job she and her coworkers must do.

“We’re always there for our patients,” she said. “They come here and we give them care. Then we transport them wherever necessary and hope they make it home safe.”