Written by medevacmatters.org
17 May 2012
Written by MEDEVACmatters.org
Good news. Enhanced Flight Medic Training Begins
After over a decade of urgent calls for upgraded training of Army flight medics, it has begun. This article provides some details of what is involved. As noted, Army statistics have long shown that wounded troops rescued by National Guard MEDEVAC crews have a 66% higher chance of survival than if they were rescued by Regular Army MEDEVAC crews. This difference is directly attributable to the level of training attained by the crews and prior trauma experience. Most National Guard flight medics are paramedics in their civilian life, so they have more extensive training as well as daily contact with trauma victims. Even civilian paramedics, however, need additional training to handle military war casualties.
The other area of good news is that flight medics also will be trained for en route critical care of stabilized patients. What most people don’t realize is that a huge percentage of MEDEVAC flights entail the transfer of wounded troops from one level medical treatment facility (MTF) to another. These patients often are hooked up to various types of medical/life sustaining equipment which the typical flight medic is not trained on or certified to use. As a result there is a substantial risk to many patients during the transfer flight that their condition may seriously deteriorate. The Army attempted to address this with the assignment of en route critical care nurses, but as was reported by Col. Robert Mabry in his after action report in 2011 – those nurses had not been properly trained (indeed, many were unaware that they would be assigned to helicopter rather than ground transfer duties) and suffered from weak leadership in the field.
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12 May 2012
Written by MEDEVACmatters.org
Just a reminder of the official US Army position on the need to make changes to MEDEVAC policies and procedures. This is the final three paragraphs of the statement issued by the Army Chief of Public Affairs on January 20, 2012 following the CBS Evening News segment on the death of SPC Chazray Clark:
“Further, arming MEDEVACs would not reduce the need for armed escort. Again, our aircraft travel in pairs. The decision to use escort is the tactical commander’s, and the Army does not dictate how or when it is necessary to use these assets.
Finally, it’s important to remember that the Army would change its policy if battlefield commanders wanted a change. We take our obligation to perform the MEDEVAC mission very seriously. We’re a learning organization and periodically we review our policies to make sure they remain relevant. We looked at the MEDEVAC policy in 2008, but after a review, we determined no change was necessary.
Additionally, neither the International Security Assistance Force or U.S. Forces – Afghanistan has requested a change in policy; because our MEDEVAC crews and aircraft provide the best chance at survival ever seen in warfare, and because — as commanders in Afghanistan have told us — not arming our MEDEVACs and identifying them with the red cross has had no impact on the medical evacuation mission.”
Written by Central Asia Development Group
24 April 2012
To view the entire report please click here.
16 April 2012
Wrtten by: MEDEVACmatters.org
[Writer] Michael Yon has written about the cultural importance of our MEDEVAC helicopters showing Red Cross symbols on them in a Muslim society. Here is a photo of a poster displaying banned symbols Mark of the Beast
Photo courtesy of Michael Yon
From Yon’s article:
An Afghan friend translates:
*Destroying the cross is an Islamic obligation*
04 April 2012
Written by: MEDEVACmatters.org
A constituent of U.S. Senator Tom Harkin finally received a reply five months after her initial letter and fax to Senator Harkin about MEDEVAC operations in Afghanistan. Despite the date on the Senator’s letter, she just received it today.
The letter is another example of how the Army’s spin doctors have misled members of Congress and the American people about the truth about MEDEVAC operations.
Here We Go Again - The Geneva Convention Prevents Us from Doing the Right Things
In paragraph 2 we are informed that the rule regarding not arming medical evacuation vehicles is traced to German perfidy in World War I. Not true. The relevant provisions in the Geneva Convention come from the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field signed in Geneva on August 22, 1864:
Page 37 of 71
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