45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron Command and Control in HaitiPort

  • Published
  • By Tech Sgt. Denise Hauser
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- As the aeromedical evacuation command and control center for Operation Unified Response in the Haiti, the 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron based at MacDill  is responsible for the coordination and sustainment of all medical evacuation teams supporting the operation here.

"It is an honor that the 45th AES has been tasked as the command and control center for this operation," said Lt. Col. C.J. Newhouse, commander of the 45th AES, which is attached to the 927th Air Refueling Wing.

Each AES crew includes three nurses and two medical technicians.  The 45th AES owns one of the crews, but seven more are from around the country.  These total-force crews include members on active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve.

The 45th also commands a mobile aeromedical staging facility -- a 13-person team from the 6th Air Mobility Wing -- in Haiti where the AES teams pick up the patients and transport them to the United States for care. This team can keep the patients for up to 24 hours while they await transportation. 

Once alerted about an upcoming mission, an Aeromedical Operations Evacuation Team gets the medical equipment loaded into the vehicles to be taken to the c-130 aircraft, set up the aircraft and check to make sure there is enough food and water for the crew.

Once the AES crew arrives, it checks normal flying duties and begin final preparation for the mission.  After a crew brief on mission specifics, the team reviews patient records and prepare oxygen tanks and other and other medical equipment for use if necessary on the flight.

After more than three hours of flight, the AES crew lands and receives the patients from the MASF team.  Two at a time, the patients are loaded onto the aircraft and begin receiving normal care -- as if in a normal hospital.  After the aeromedial evacuation flight, the patients are picked up by ambulances and transported to the local hospital nearest where they land.

Overall, eight missions have been flown so far and approximately 120 patients have been cared for.