Reserve, regular aeromedical units partner for win-win training

Published July 24, 2007
By Maj. Ann Peru Knabe
440th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Aboard the C-130, the "patient" struggled to breathe as medical technicians and flight nurses from the 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron do their best efforts to save his life.

He had suffered bilateral burns on the eyes, and was being flown on a C-130. But his condition worsened. Soon he was struggling to breathe, and the aeromedical team started suctioning his mouth. Then his pulse oximeter reading fell from 87 percent to 70 percent, and the aeromeds intubated him since he could no longer breathe on his own.

The exciting part of this story is not that "the patient" survived (it was a simulated exercise, after all), but the fact that it was a 440th Airlift Wing Reserve aircrew flying active duty aeromeds.

"The training partnership is a perfect match," said Lt.Col. Stephen Chafe, 440th Airlift Wing Det. 2 operations officer, calling it a "win-win" situation. "The active duty aeromedical unit from Pope needs training flights that last a couple hours in the air, and the 95th Airlift Squadron needs to keep its traditional reserve aircrew members qualified."

Colonel Chafe explained the 95th Airlift Squadron, now based at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., still has more than 50 traditional reservists who live in Wisconsin and need to maintain currency. Back at Pope AFB, the 43rd AES needed to train their aeromeds on real-world flights.

"We were in a meeting at Pope last May, and a couple of us were talking with the aeromeds, when suddenly the light went on - why couldn't we provide flights for aeromed training to Milwaukee? The flight to Milwaukee is a little over two hours, and we the 95th and 43rd (AES) would both benefit. The real nut to crack was how to connect the two missions."

It didn't take long to figure it out. The first aeromedical training from Pope to Milwaukee, and back to Pope, took place July 19. Both units felt this opportunity was an excellent use of resources.

"It was an example of wonderful integration between the 'front-end' and AES," said Capt. Kathy Martin, referring to the collaboration between the 95th aircrew and 43rd aeromeds. "The 95th did everything they could do to help us have an exceptional training experience."

As the 43rd AES element chief for aircrew training, Captain Martin looks forward to continuing the weekly training flights with the 440th.

"We had ample opportunity to practice all our scenarios," she explained. During the two flights the aeromeds simulated treating patients with chemical burns, crush injuries, fractured bones and breathing obstructions. The 95th aircrew supported the exercise directly responding to simulate emergencies. Warning lights lit up during the flight telling the crew about simulated rapid decompression and a fire.

"The beauty of this training stateside is that it reflects what is really going on in the war theater," said Tech. Sgt. Stephanie Durham, who served as the mission clinical coordinator. "The majority of time I've flown in the AOR, it's been with Reserve and Guard crews. So it makes perfect sense - we need to train how we fight."
Maj. Derek Poellet, 95th AS aircraft commander for the July 19 training mission, agreed.

"It's all about the active duty and Reserve working together," he said. "Our new organizational structure shows active duty units under our operations group. So it's exciting to see us working together so quickly."

In the next year, the 440th Operations Group will gain a new Reserve squadron when the 440th Aeromedical Squadron is activated. In addition, the 440th Operations Group will gain operational direction over the 43rd AES (and 2nd Airlift Squadron) when the much anticipated active association is implemented.

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