Medical Evacuation History

The history of medical evacuation often shortened to medavac has been saving lives since 1870. Medical evacuation is defined as the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield or other locations to a medical treatment facility. They learned how valuable this evacuation was compared to ground transporting a patient from the battlefield to receive medical attention but still there were a lot of flaws with it as well. The time it took to get to the patient and back still was not good enough to save patients that would have been saved today. The World’s military evolve as time goes on just like the evolution of the medical evacuation. Modern medical evacuation

They decided to encompass a unit able to provide a full range of medical services for eight thousand United States personnel. The 8th Field Hospital and 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) would provide fully integrated health including dental, thoracic, orthopedic and neurosurgical care. The 57th was prohibited from evacuating Vietnamese soldiers and civilians, Captain Temperelli found this policy to be unrealistic. The 57th honored all request for evacuations and carried wounded for all nationalities even those of the enemy. The next improvement that would come during the Vietnam War was when the United States started to use the Bell UH-1 helicopter also known as the Huey. This helicopter was large enough to hold patients inside unlike the Bell-47. This also meant that the medical personnel could begin treatment during the flight to a hospital. This helicopter was a element in the reduction of mortality and morbidity. The Bell-47 would reduce the mortality rate from 2.5 deaths per casualty to 1 death per casualty. The United States civilian sector has been improving as well. The first civilian medical evacuation was in 1958. At the time they didn’t have any medical personnel on board so they were solely used as transport for injured personnel. It wasn’t until 1981 when Mercy Flight WNY was established by Douglas H. Baker that the first air medical

Each war or conflict brings new challenges to overcome. They have developed a rule called the Golden Hour which is that crucial 60 minutes in which a traumatically injured person has to reach the hospital before their survival chances plummet. The war in Afghanistan with its mountains at 18,000 feet complicates medical evacuations even more. This terrain often extended the evacuation time past the Golden Hour so counter this medics started performing emergency procedures in the helicopter that would normally be done by emergency room doctors. Medical Evacuations have evolved in many ways throughout time. The military and the civilian sector will always learn and adapt to get medical attention to those who need it as quickly as possible. Now almost every hospital has medical evacuation helicopters that save lives in all areas of the country. This helps those who live in those areas where it’s impossible to get medical vehicles to them. We have learned over the years of how valuable this service has been and will be in future. This service is a true life saver and will continue to grow and evolve in ways that will save even more lives in the