four litter patients, eight to 10 ambulatory patients, or two litter and four ambulatory
patients.
(5) Standard military vehicles which can be adapted for carrying patients
include the truck, cargo, 2 1/2-ton, 6 X 6; the truck, cargo, 3/4- ton, 4 X 4; the truck,
platform, utility, 1/2-ton, 4 X 4 (Mule); and the truck, utility, 1/4-ton, 4 X 4.
(6) The bus ambulance, 44-passenger, 4 X 2, is not a field type ambulance.
It normally operates in the COMMZ, primarily in transferring patients from hospitals to
airheads or ports of embarkation.
Section II. AIR EVACUATION BY THE ARMY
7-4.
GENERAL
The Department of Defense policy requires the use of aircraft as a means of
transportation of the sick and wounded, unless medically contraindicated, and whenever
appropriate aircraft can be made available. A major objective of patient evacuation by
air is to transport the sick and wounded in the shortest time to and between MTF so that
they can receive specialized medical care. The expediency and flexibility of air
transportation are two major factors that lead to the attainment of this objective.
7-5.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
a. General. Aircraft is the preferred means of transportation of the sick and
wounded because of its many advantages. These advantages, as compared with other
means of transportation, may be measured in terms of the lives, time, and resources
saved. The speed with which aircraft cover long distances may create a tendency to
over evacuate. This disadvantage may be overcome, however, by exercising care in
the selection of patients. In general, the time saved by the use of aircraft transportation
results in the saving of lives, economy and maximum use of resources, and greater
continuity of the medical effort.
b. Advantages.
(1) Speed. The speed with which the sick and wounded can be transported
by air from locations with limited medical "treatment capabilities to appropriate MTF
insures timeliness of treatment, thus contributing to the saving of lives, to the reduction
of permanent disability, and to an increase in the number of patients returned to duty.
(2) Range. The range of aircraft makes is possible to transport patients by
air over relatively long distances in short periods of time. This requires less frequent
displacement of MTF, a factor that will be of even greater significance as battlefields
become more dispersed.
(3) Trafficability. Helicopter aircraft can transport patients quickly over
terrain where evacuation by other means would be difficult and perhaps impossible to
MD0002
7-5
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