This authority also comes from the TPMRC MEDCOM MRO which will have previously
arranged with the theater Navy for the movement of patients by hospital ships. When the
patients are moved by ships, the MEDCOM will have to provide holding facilities at the
port. Patients will be delivered to these holding facilities and held there until loaded aboard
ships. This is one mission of the field hospital.
3-29.
MOBILE AEROMEDICAL STAGING FACILITIES (MASF)
a. Mobile aeromedical staging facilities (MASF) are air transportable holding
facilities. These units are equipped and staffed to receive patients, sustain life, and
administratively process patients who are to be moved in the Tactical Aeromedical
System. (TAES). This tactical system will be used to evacuate patients from Air Force
operational locations within the combat zone to hospital facilities outside the combat zone
and from airhead or airborne objective areas where airborne operations include Air
Force forward logistic support. Bases used for aeromedical staging and in-flight crew
staging are designated by the area or theater commander. Tactical aeromedical
evacuation crews provide supportive medical care, prepare patients for evacuation,
initiate patient evacuation manifests, identify tags, etc., and fly aeromedical airlift missions
to provide in-flight patient care.
b. Upon deployment, the MASF will provide sufficient supplies and equipment to
insure a capability to operate for five days without resupply. Units have an authorized
strength of 23 when deployed. Flight nurses, aeromedical technicians, and ground ramp
operators constitute the unit. Each MASF has a 50-patient capacity with an average
patient holding time of three to five hours. (Patients should be brought to the MASF no
sooner than four hours and not later than two hours prior to departure time of designated
aircraft.) One hundred patients per day can normally be processed and moved by each
MASF; however, a surge capability to move 150 patients per day exists.
c. The MASF staff must also establish liaison with originating medical facilities.
The liaison teams (LT), composed of the air evacuation liaison officer/NCO (AELO),
provide the initial interface between the user service and the TAES. The LT is located at
any level of the combat forces medical regulation chain of command that is required to
insure a smooth patient flow into the tactical aeromedical evacuation system.
3-30.
SUMMARY
a. The patient's attending physician makes the initial determination to evacuate a
patient to the next higher level of medical support. This determination is based on the
patient's condition and whether or not the patient may be returned to duty within the
established evacuation policy.
MD0752
3-50