U.S. Air Force Capt. John-Michael Fowler, critical care air transportation nurse for Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, administers medication before an aero-medical evacuation on Kadena Air Base, Japan, March 26, 2012. The patient is a U.S. Marine who was being medically evacuated to Hawaii for further treatment. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Brooke P. Beers/Released )

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A U.S. Marine suffering from pneumonia at Kadena Air Base, Japan is transported to Hawaii for further treatment, March 26, 2012. Although the team of medical staff serves in different branches of service, they work together as a team toward a common goal; getting the patient what he needs. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Brooke P. Beers/Released)

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Service members help transport a patient onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globmaster aircraft on Kadena Air Base, Japan, March 26, 2012. The patient was a U.S. Marine who was being medically evacuated to Hawaii for further treatment. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Brooke P. Beers/Released)

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U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy personnel work as a team to move a Marine patient from his bed to a stretcher in order to transport him to Kadena Air Base from U. S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, Camp Lester, Japan, March 26, 2012. Although the team members and patient are not in the same branch of service, they all work together to perform the same mission; keeping the patient safe. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Brooke P. Beers/Released)

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U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brendan Beely, Tripler Army Medical Center NCO in charge of a joint medical attendant transport team, takes blood from a patient before preparing him for transport to Kadena Air Base from U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa on Camp Lester, Japan, March 27, 2012. The patient was a U.S. Marine who was being medically evacuated to Hawaii for further treatment. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Brooke P. Beers/Released)

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Service members team up, save life

Published March 27, 2012
By Airman 1st Class Brooke P. Beers
18th Wing Public Affairs

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The aeromedical evacuation of a U.S. Marine, March 26, who suffered complications from pneumonia marked the first ever extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, transfer performed with an adult in the Western Pacific region.

An ECMO provides cardiac and respiratory oxygen support to patients with damaged or diseased heart and lungs that can no longer function for themselves.

To complete an ECMO a surgeon inserts tubes into the large blood vessels of the patient. With the help of blood thinners to prevent clotting, the machine will then pump blood through the patient with a membrane oxygenator, removing carbon dioxide and adding oxygen, returning it back into the patient.

The Marine was being cared for at the Lester hospital Intesive Care Unit, Camp Lester, Okinawa, for several days before being transferred to Kadena Air Base and then boarding a C17 that would take him to recieve specialized treatment in Hawaii.

The medical team transporting the victim was composed of not only Air Force critical care air transportation nurses, but also Army soldiers who are part of the Tripler Army Medical Center joint medical attendant transport team.

Although the medical team members did not belong to the same branch of service as the patient, they came together to perform what needed to be done to help save his life.