Contingency medical team one-stop shop for wounded

  • Published
  • By Capt. Jennifer Gerhardt
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
BARKING SANDS PACIFIC MISSILE RANGE, Kauai --  This different mix of functions acts as care providers, travel agents, hospital logisticians and mental health providers. Simply put, in a deployed location, it is a one-stop place for wounded military to leave the combat zone.

The Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility is a grueling, manual labor job where physicians, nurses, and medical technicians do everything from setting up their own tents and electricity to treating patients and carrying them on litters to aircraft. For Pacific Lifeline, the flurry of activity is heightened with the humid heat and sporadic rain showers.

Pacific Lifeline is a total force exercise designed to exercise the military's ability to rapidly arrive and leave a trained, equipped team anywhere in the Pacific in response to a humanitarian assistance or disaster scenario. More than 900 Department of Defense personnel are participating in the exercise.

"The best way to describe a CASF is a combination of a medical unit and transport system for aeromedical evacuations," said Lt. Col. Cynthia Fry-Spray, the alternate CASF commander for Pacific Lifeline at Kauai.

In a wartime scenario, the CASF would treat wounded military personnel with injuries ranging from broken arms to severe trauma. However, in a humanitarian or disaster response, the CASF could treat everything from wounded children to the elderly with heart problems.

"The biggest difference is there won't be as much defensive wounds from combat," said Colonel Fry-Spray. "We might deal more with pediatrics, but we could also deal with a host of health issues with trauma added on top of that."

The 47-person team at the CASF includes flight surgeons, nurses, pharmacy, nutrition, and mental health. While patients are there, they will be assessed and reassessed.

"We want to continue treatment already given or initiate new care if it's needed," said Maj. Joe Tomsic, who wears a dual hat as the assistant chief nurse at the CASF and mental health provider. "We want to ensure they are ready to fly to a major medical facility."

For some, it can be mentally and physically challenging to work in the CASF. Depending on the size of the tent, the CASF can treat 50 to 250 patients at a time. For Pacific Lifeline, the tent will handle about 25 patients.

"It is mentally challenging because you are the last person the patient sees before leaving the area of responsibility," said Maj. Tammy St. Armand, the CASF course director from Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. "You want ensure they will be able to handle the flight and make it home safely."