Exercise Alamo Shield provides life-saving training

Airmen from different units of the 433rd Airlift Wing conducted an eight-day training exercise to hone their skills and prepare in case they are called into action in a deployed environment.

 Alamo Shield, which was held Feb. 22-29 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and Camp Bullis Training Annex, is a comprehensive training exercise designed to deploy and exercise an aeromedical evacuation system in an initial urgent response scenario.

 This wartime initial contingency mission centered on the fictitious country Biloxistan, where war has broken out by a rising insurgent power and the U.S. Military has been sent to assist the country. Camp Bullis' airfield served as the country of Biloxistan with different regions surrounding the flightline simulating multiple locations down range.

 Members of the 433rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, 433rd Airlift Control Flight, 433rd Aeromedical Staging Squadron and 433rd Aerospace Medicine Squadron's Critical Care Air Transport Team worked together to provide the logistics and execution of evacuating injured patients out of the danger zone.

 Two aeromedical evacuation liaison teams were spread out on different sides of the "country" and served as the first step in the process to evacuate patients out.

 "We are imbedded down range with specific Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Air Force units and serve as the liaison between that unit and the aeromedical system," said Capt. Charlie South, 433rd AELT member. "We work with our communication personnel to relay the necessary information required to evacuate the patients out of the region. This exercise gives us the opportunity to truly refine our skills and make sure we have our processes as perfect as they can be."

 The AELT members, consisting of a flight nurse,  Medical Service Corps officer and two communication personnel, provide clinical expertise in knowing exactly what the patients need regarding aircraft specific requirements, equipment requirements, clinical implications of altitude and stresses of flight while preparing the patients for the flight.

 With the AELT's coordination, the rest of the aeromedical evacuation teams know what they will need to do to complete the mission.

 The Aeromedical Evacuation Operations Teams downrange receive the instruction from the AELTs and begin their role. The AEOTs coordinate the air crews and provide operational and mission management support by coordinating the proper equipment necessary for the mission, directs AE ground support activities like mission launch and recovery, aircraft set up and configuration, and manages medical equipment and supplies.

 "We are responsible for managing the crews for our AE missions," said Lt. Col. Deborah Deja, 433rd AES flight nurse who oversaw operations for one of the two AEOT units during the exercise. "During the exercise we are only managing two crews, but we have the capability to manage up to 10 crews and launch and recover up to six missions in a 24-hour period."

 During the exercise, the AEOTs ensured all the necessary equipment was ready to load onto the incoming C-130 Hercules assigned to the 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.  With the exercise being simulated in an active war zone, the engines for the aircraft were continuously running, which helped maintain a high sense of urgency.

 As soon as the arriving aircraft came to a complete stop, the AEOT members and aircrew began loading and setting up the aircraft in the arrangement necessary to keep the patients stable.

 After the equipment was loaded, patients were taken from the en-route Patient Staging System and boarded onto the aircraft. ERPSS is a staging facility that provides temporary holding capability for up to six hours for patients transiting the Air Evacuation System.

 While inflight, AE crews continue care of the non-critical patients while Critical Care Air Transport Teams worked on the critical patients.  CCATT teams consist of one critical care physician, a critical care nurse and a respiratory technician to ensure the best care possible is provided to those patients who need it most.

 This training couldn't have come at a better time for many of the exercise participants. Some are just keeping their skills up-to-date, but many are preparing for a deployment in the upcoming months.

 "I am about to deploy for the first time and this exercise couldn't have come at a better time," said Senior Airman Sarah Clark, 433rd AES medical technician. "This is an opportunity for me to learn from my mistakes so when I'm in the field, I will be sharper, quicker and more on point."