News

Building global partnerships through medical training

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Moody
  • 446th Airlift Wing, Public Affairs
MCCHORD FIELD, Wash. --  The 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is strengthening global partnerships between international communities and the United States. Through training exercises such as Global Medic, Medlite, and Air Mobility Command Rodeo, 446th AES Reservists exchange information to improve joint emergency responses throughout the world.

Recently, AMC Rodeo 2011 presented an opportunity to host an AES symposium, providing a platform for international competitors to clinically share information before observing the operational side during the Rodeo aircraft configuration, said Col. Jan Moore-Harbert, 446th AES commander.

"AMC Rodeo always played into that because we have international teams participate," said Moore-Harbert. "In the past five years we've seen more participation by Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and Canada, with growing interest from The Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and Brazil, along with a few potential coalition partners sending teams or observers  for Rodeo two years from now."

"We know we have the best aeromedical evacuation system out there," said Moore-Harbert. "We need to be able to recognize how we're going to share our capabilities, what we can do to continue to improve, and learn from other countries' air evacuation capabilities."

An example of how AES is a growing interest in the international community can be seen with a recent 446th AES mission to Egypt in July.

"Air Force Reserve Command said the Egyptian government was looking for an expert capabilities assessment for their aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue, and medical waste disposal," said Moore-Harbert. "Egypt is looking to the U.S. Air Force because they really want someone to look at their emergency response capabilities and address how they can improve their system."

Global Medic is annual medical exercise designed to replicate all aspects of combat service support on the battlefield and allow participating combat support units to train as they fight. As one of the largest medical command and control exercises between the U.S. Air Force Reserve and U.S. Army Reserve, Global Medic serves as an effective means to train medical units and staff for real-world missions.

Another example of how the 446th AES is fostering partnerships and improving capability across the board in a joint environment can be seen in Medlite, held in Tunisia in 2008.

"Medlite is an example of a small-scale exercise that evolved into a larger one which brought in decontamination teams, the full spectrum of aeromedical evacuation and medical staging," said Moore-Harbert. "Based on the events which occurred recently when Libyan refugees were moving into Tunisia, the Tunisian government was able to care for, med-evac and stabilize the refugees," said the colonel.

"Obviously the Libya crises was AFRICOMs first operational test since their inception," said Lt. Col. Luis Morales, AFRC officer in charge, international health specialist program. "The Tunisians gave credit to Medlite as to their current capability to respond during the crisis."

"I'm amazed at the talents of these guys in my unit," said Moore-Harbert.

The 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron consists of nearly 250 flight nurses and aeromedical technicians who are committed to providing quality care in war and peacetime, while balancing the demands of their families, employers and country.

The squadron's manning is 157 to support a wartime mission that supports deploying 20 aeromedical evacuation crews, trained and equipped to provide in-flight medical care aboard mission-directed aircraft used to airlift patients. At the same time, 446th AES can deploy up to seven aeromedical evacuation operational personnel to provide operational and mission management support at aerial ports supporting aeromedical evacuation operations.

During peacetime, the aeromedical movement of ill or injured Department of Defense members and their dependants is a direct peacetime by-product of the necessary training required to maintain equipment readiness and medical crew proficiency.