KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan air force flight medics from the Kandahar Air Wing recently completed an eight-week contingency aeromedical staging facility familiarization course provided by the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing.
Afghan flight medics are responsible for taking care of patients during aeromedical evacuation flight missions.
During the course, they learned about scheduling aeromedical evacuation flights, configuring aircraft for patients, transferring patients between ambulances and aircraft, as well as aeromedical evacuation-related ground and flight safety concerns.
The flight medics applied their learning to evacuation missions from the Kandahar Regional Military Hospital to the National Military Hospital in Kabul.
The Kandahar Air Wing will soon have fixed-wing aircraft. Their ability to operate a contingency aeromedical staging will allow them to quickly prepare routine and urgent patients for aeromedical evacuation.
While the Kandahar Air Wing safely moved more than 300 patients using Kabul-based Afghan Air Force aircraft this year, NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan medical advisors noticed a marked improvement in the the wing’s flight medics’ confidence and abilities because of this contingency aeromedical staging training.