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Medics deploy to fire-devastated Southern California

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman David K. Flaherty
  • 452nd Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. --  As California wildfires continue to burn unchecked, Air Force medical elements prepared for the worst when they deployed here.

The 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., along with components from Scott AFB, Ill., and Travis AFB, Calif., constructed a mobile aeromedical staging facility Oct. 25, at March ARB in the heart of Southern California.

The Air Force medical teams wait on standby to air-evacuate fire victims out of the local area.

"We're prepared for the worst case scenario," said Maj. Kerry Barshinger, the officer in charge of the MASF. "Whether it's the evacuation of a hospital, or even a nursing home, we're ready to respond to a large-scale emergency."

Plans call for patients to be brought to March ARB where a team of flight medics assess the fire victims. If needed, they would then be loaded onto a medically equipped C-130 and air evacuated out of the local area to a hospital. Major Barshinger said the MASF is able to receive anywhere from 40 to 60 patients in a 24-hour period.

"We're basically a medical staging facility," said Capt. Jermey D. Hicks, a flight nurse from the 43rd AES. "Once they're brought to us, we can send them off to a bigger hospital."

Although trained to operate in a deployed environment, this is not the first time the 43rd AES has been sent within U.S. boarders to aid in medical relief efforts during a national disaster. The squadron deployed to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and then to Texas in anticipation of Hurricane Dean.

"We tend to be the go-to guy for a lot of these natural disasters, so this is becoming business as usual," said Major Barshinger. "We train for this. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, we're ready for it." (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)