c. All aircraft assigned as AMEDD air ambulances are marked with the Geneva
cross and national colors as prescribed in the Geneva Convention and appropriate
Department of the Army publications.
d. Army Medical Department air ambulances have an internal litter capability
with provisions for in-flight treatment and care of patients. Medical personnel and
equipment are carried aboard these aircraft on all missions.
e. Army Medical Department ambulances, ground or aerial, are not used for
transporting nonmedical personnel, supplies, or equipment. This restriction is in
compliance with the rules of land warfare.
7-8.
SUPPORTING AEROMEDICAL EVACUATION MEANS
a. Division and corps aviation units have the capability of augmenting the
AMEDD air ambulance system to meet peak patient requirements and to move
stabilized patients on a scheduled basis. To the extent feasible, all Army utility and
cargo aircraft are designed to accept litter configurations. Augmentation of aeromedical
evacuation and air movement of patients is a secondary mission for nonmedical aviation
units.
b. Nonmedical aviation units normally are used to transport routine category
patients. Upon request of the responsible surgeon, these operations are conducted as
follows:
(1) Scheduled movements. Scheduled patient movements involve the use
of return space generated by other scheduled airlift requirements. This backhaul
capability normally is used to move patients who do not require in-flight medical
attention.
(2) Movements. Evacuation movement s of opportunity are instituted by the
medical officer in the forward facility when a requirement arises coincident with the
availability of a nonscheduled aircraft which can be sent to the general destination pre-
designated for these patients.
c. Non- Army Medical Department aircraft can be used to meet the requirements
of peak periods of activity when normal aeromedical evacuation capabilities become
temporarily inadequate. Improvisation consists of providing appropriate AMEDD
personnel and materiel to furnish in-flight medical treatment on those aircraft whose
sizes and interior configurations permit medical personnel to work effectively. In
instances of extreme pressure on the patient evacuation system, every available space
on general-purpose aircraft may be used to transport all categories of patients without
mandatory provision for in- flight medical treatment. Regardless of the method used,
the responsible surgeon designates the point of origin, the patients to be carried, and
the destination point.
MD0002
7-8