3-5.
MISSION AND ADVANTAGES OF AEROMEDICAL EVACUATION
a. The primary mission objective of an aeromedical evacuation system is
comparable to that of any fixed military medical treatment facility: To reduce the
noneffective personnel rate of the Armed Forces resulting from injury and disease; in brief,
to increase combat availability of personnel in both peace and war.
b. The advantages of aeromedical evacuation (see figure 3-1) are:
(1) Speed. The primary advantage gained by air evacuation is the immediate
availability to move a patient rapidly, safely, and in a medically acceptable manner from a
location having a limited or no medical treatment capability to a facility which can provide
the necessary medical treatment. An advantage accruing to this is a reduction in recovery
time for the patient and his earlier return to duty.
(2) Flexibility. Patients can be diverted en route to the appropriate specialized
treatment facilities. This permits the Army Medical Department to establish specialized
treatment centers which can provide maximum hospital benefits to a maximum number of
patients at any one given time. A major benefit accruing from this capability is the
conservation of critical medical manpower at the professional level. The concentration of
medical skills in central areas reduces the requirement to staff all military medical facilities
at the specialty skill level. In addition, a considerable saving of paramedical manpower,
such as nurses, warrant officers, and medical specialists is realized from the use of air in
patient evacuation.
(3) En route treatment. In-flight medical treatment can be provided patients by
trained medical specialists who are members of the aircraft crew.
(4) Comfort. Travel by air is relatively more comfortable than travel by ground
vehicle over rough roads and uneven terrain.
(5) Morale. The morale of the fighting soldier is increased when he realizes
that he will be evacuated rapidly to excellent medical treatment facilities if he is wounded.
MD0752
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