Critical Care Transport Teams Keep Patients Stabilized During
Transport
Air National Guard members will begin flying a newly assigned
critical care air transport team mission from Ramstein Air Base,
Germany, Jan. 10, the air surgeon said in an interview at Joint
Base Andrews just outside Washington, DC on Jan. 4. The CCATTs,
which consist of a physician specializing in critical care,
pulmonology, anesthesiology or surgery, along with a critical care
nurse and a respiratory technician, are designed to provide a
higher level of care in the aeromedical evacuation system, said
Col. Brett Wyrick.
(L-R) Master Sgt. Theresa Sheheen, Capt. Michelle
Mulberry
"The Air Guard went from having absolutely no CCATTs six months
ago to providing the trained and ready manpower for this air
expeditionary force requirement for the next two years," he
said.
The teams will deploy from here for tours that vary from 60 to
180 days. "A flexible tour length allows for maximum participation
among these highly specialized caregivers who are in high demand in
the civilian world as well as the military," Colonel Wyrick said.
They will be based out of Ramstein AB, which is one of the Air
Force's CCATT hubs. "The Air Guard will place at least one CCATT on
each rotation flying out of Ramstein (AB) ... and we are looking to
combine with the Air Force Reserve to field even more teams in the
coming months," Colonel Wyrick said.
From Ramstein AB, they may be called on to fly missions into
Iraq, Afghanistan or possibly Africa and bring patients back to
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, in Germany.
The role of the CCATT is to keep patients stabilized throughout
the flight and deliver them in stable condition to a treatment
center, Colonel Wyrick said. The CCATT evolved, because "there was
a need to move patients with a higher level of injury, the more
critically injured patients, from the forward areas of the
battlefield back to the continental United States," Colonel Wyrick
said.
He added that this mission is vitally important for the future
of Air Guard medicine. "Because this is one of the primary missions
that the Air Force does, and as a total force partner with the Air
Force, we need to be involved in the missions they're involved
with," Colonel Wyrick said. "If it's important enough for the Air
Force to do it, then it's important enough for the Air National
Guard to do it.
"This is a total force mission, in which you will find guardsmen
working side-by-side with their active-duty counterparts, whether
it be at the hospital, transportation of patients from the hospital
to the aircraft or working on the patients on the aircraft," he
said. The Air National Guard had CCATTs when the aeromedical
program began, but over the years the Air Guard migrated away from
the mission as it got more involved in domestic response teams,
such as the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and
High-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package and the
Homeland Response Force missions.
"Now ... there is a need out there and the active-duty (Air
Force) CCATT teams are getting stretched thin because of the
operations tempo, and therefore we were asked by the surgeon
general of the Air Force if we could help out," Colonel Wyrick
said. "This ANG effort is significant, because it will decrease the
burden on the active-duty Air Force to field these high-demand and
low-density teams."
In addition to their federal mission, CCATTs will also give
state governors a surge capacity for homeland-response evacuations
that otherwise would not exist. "They can be available in the event
of any natural or man-made disaster with civilian casualties,"
Colonel Wyrick said.
During a disaster response, one of the problems is the ability
to move patients from the area of devastation to hospitals outside
of the affected area, he said. CCATTs will allow a more immediate
response to a critically injured patient than a traditional
aeromedical evacuation team. "The team, along with its special
medical equipment, can turn almost any airframe (whether active
duty, Guard, or in some cases civilian) into a flying intensive
care unit within minutes," he said.
CCATT members are experienced in the care of critically ill or
injured patients with multi-system trauma, shock, burns,
respiratory failure, multiple organ failure, or other
life-threatening complications. CCATT members are traditional
guardsmen who have volunteered for the mission. They are taking
time away from their civilian practices and occupations to fill the
requirements, Colonel Wyrick said.
To become a member of a CCATT, medical professionals must endure
an extensive selection and screening process. Once they are
approved, they go to the Center for Sustainment of Trauma and
Readiness Skills center in Cincinnati for specific CCATT training.
Wyrick said the Air Guard needs more skilled medical professionals
in its ranks.
"We always are looking for good physicians, nurses and medical
personnel," Colonel Wyrick said. "Medical happens to be one of the
most difficult areas to recruit in the Air National Guard, because
even on the civilian side ... it's low-density, high-demand
occupations that we're looking for."