Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility

SALAH AD DIN, IRAQ

04.02.2011

Story by Senior Airman Tong Duong 

332d Air Expeditionary Wing

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – A critical part to the seamless transition of medical care from the battlefield to recovery is patient comfort.
This is where members of the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility come in.

A 24-hour staging operation, CASF technicians coordinate the admission and transition of patients through the Air Force Theater Hospital to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany.

“The CASF mission is to facilitate the safe medical airlift of casualties from the Air Force Central Commands area of responsibility to Landstuhl, for higher echelon of medical care,” said Master Sgt. Eric Evans, 332nd EMDG non-commissioned officer in charge of CASF, who is deployed from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga.

To date, CASF members have cared for 760 patients and completed 120 missions during their rotation (December 2010 to present).

For the most part conditions of patients are stabilized prior to coming through CASF. In some cases, a critical care air transport team will come in and travel with their most critical patients to Landstuhl, Sgt. Evans, a native of Mobile, Ala., said.

Evans said the majority of patients they care for suffer from behavioral health injuries. Depression and disorders related to post traumatic stress, anxiety, adjustment and bipolar are more common, as compared to combat injuries seen earlier in the war.

As a rule CASF technicians do not travel with patients, but there are some exceptions. Technicians may be required to watch patients for signs of medical or psychological problems, and are expected to perform the same task as a medical attendant. Some time they are just there to comfort a person as they make their way thought the AOR.

Senior Airman Gregory Rodgers, 332nd EMDOS CASF technician, who is deployed from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, said his job of ensuring patients receive the most advanced healthcare needed to make a full recovery, is critical.

“The thing I like most about my job is the feeling of accomplishment, the look of trust in my patient’s eyes and the handshakes of the flight crew after a mission,” Airman Rodgers, a native of Little Rock, Ark., said. “This is something we don’t get to do at homestation and it’s an awesome opportunity. I am glad to have had the pleasure of working with my team.”

• Date Taken: 04.02.2011
• Date Posted: 04.03.2011 06:59
• Story ID: 68194
• Location: SALAH AD DIN, IQ