possible. This request will start a number of important administrative actions that must be
accomplished prior to the evacuation of the patient.
b. In the case of hospital to hospital transfer, normally the attending physician will
contact the destination medical facility and obtain an accepting physician.
c. Notify nursing service personnel of the planned evacuation and annotate the
doctor's orders. Nursing service has a number of functions to perform prior to patient
evacuation and early notification will assist them to ensure completion of these
preparations. See paragraph 3-15.
d. Determine Precedence of Patient. The following precedence applies to all
patient evacuations. Overclassification will be avoided to prevent unnecessary, costly, and
hazardous movements.
(1) URGENT. For emergency cases that must be moved immediately to save
life or limb or to prevent complication of a serious illness. Psychiatric cases or terminal
cases with a short life expectancy are not considered urgent.
(2) PRIORITY. Patients requiring prompt medical care not available locally.
Patients must be picked up within 24 hours and delivered with the least delay.
(3) ROUTINE. Movement of patients on routine scheduled flights. Psychiatric
and terminal patients may only be classified as routine.
e. Determine patient movement classification. Any change in patient classification
after a patient has been reported for evacuation must be reported immediately to the
patient evacuation section. The configuration of aircraft, placement of patients on the
aircraft, and the type and number of crew members is dependent on the classification of
the patient. See table 3-1.
f. Determine diagnoses and whether a medical attendant is required. Physicians,
nurses, or medical corpsmen attendants must be approved by the appropriate department
chief and chief, professional activities, and a TDY request forwarded for issuance of
orders. The name of the medical attendant is indicated by the attending physician
requesting evacuation of the patient. The sex and degree of medical expertise is
determined by the physician and annotated on the DA Form 3981 (Transfer of Patient).
Nonphysician medical attendant's responsibilities are under the direction of the flight
clinical coordinator. For those patients with a communicable disease, the flight clinical
coordinator is consulted to plan in-flight management of the patient. All medical attendants
are required to accompany their patients to the destination MTF. Attendants are released
by the attending physician and/or chief, patient administration division (PAD), at the
gaining MTF.
MD0752
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