By U.S. Army Capt. Matthew Kukta
3d Cavalry Regiment Police Advisory Team PAO
NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Afghan Air Force surgeon, Col. Amine, hosted medical personnel from the Afghan Border Police, and Afghan National Police to complete rotary wing air evacuation training on Dec. 21, 2014.
Amin, led the one-day training event of 11 Afghan National Police personnel on Mi-17 aircraft familiarization, ambulance procedures around the aircraft, packaging and preparation of patients, and loading and unloading litter and ambulatory patients.
The air evacuation training was requested through the Operation Coordination Center by Dr. Hadi, the ABP Zone 301 Deputy Surgeon, who felt a regimented training event was necessary to ensure the safety of Afghan National Security Force casualties that are loaded and transported on rotary wing aircraft. Sgt. Bashir Mullajan, a medic from the ANP, stated “The training was very beneficial for us, we practiced how to safely approach and load a casualty into an Mi-17, and can now teach this skill to the other medics in our unit.” Col. Jan Aka, the Jalalabad Air Operations Detachment Commander, was also very excited to see the training take place. “When our aircraft land to pick up wounded personnel, they are usually in dangerous areas. The faster we can safely load the wounded, the safer it is for us, and our equipment.”
This was the first combined AAF, ANP training event of its kind. The air evacuation training established inter-agency relationships, and set conditions for additional events in the future. Participants were selected based upon their capacity to serve in “Train-the-Trainer” roles, and will lead their own training events within their respective units.
Among those in attendance at the event were U.S. aviation and medical advisers. Although the advisers played no active role in the training, they were able to provide insight with their training and experience.