Tammie Canada, and she agreed to participate. I also volunteered to serve as the onboard physician,” said Garlick. “Both Maj. “There was an AE crew already in Hawaii, but no CCATT team. So I subsequently spoke with the AE crew head nurse, Maj. With choices and time running out, the AECT decided to use a C-17 Globemaster from the 535th Airlift Squadron at JBPHH for the trip to and from Kwajalein Atoll.Įven with the designated aircraft selected, Garlick and his TPMRC colleagues still had to find a Critical Care Air Transport Team to support the patient during the more than five-hour flight, but to no avail. Next, the AECT projected employing a C-130 Hercules airframe from Yokota AB, Japan, but because of the sense of urgency in moving the patient, and also that the aircraft would require multiple stops en route, this option too was ruled out. Initially, the Aeromedical Evacuation Control Team, the AE element within the 613rd Air Operations Center, also located at JBPHH, and manager of Pacific Air Forces’ assets, assigned a KC-135 Stratotanker for this AE mission, but the runway at Kwajalein Atoll could not accommodate this aircraft. On April 17, 2020, while serving at the TPMRC-W, Garlick received, and subsequently validated, the requirement to transport this critically ill soldier. He then discussed with, and got consensus from, his coworkers–a nurse and controller–on employing Tripler Army Medical Center as the preferred treatment facility. But, finding a way to move the soldier from Kwajalein Atoll to TAMC proved to be more challenging. Each month, the combatant command executes between 500 to 600 aeromedical evacuations, transporting ill and injured active-duty service members, as well as other patients, to locales with appropriate medical treatment facilities. Serving as the Department of Defense’s single manager for global patient movement, USTRANSCOM executes this critical mission through the U.S. Tammie Canada, operations flight commander, 18th AE Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. Jeremy Garlick, and the AE Mission Head Nurse, U.S. The backstory behind the successful aeromedical evacuation across more than 2,400 miles and the International Date Line also spotlights the sacrifice, selflessness, and dedication to duty of the TPMRC-W team of dedicated professionals including Theater Validating Flight Surgeon, U.S. Transportation Command Patient Movement Requirements Center-West, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, requesting assistance in transporting the individual to a medical facility with an intensive care unit, the soldier arrived via military airlift in Honolulu, Hawaii, for treatment at Tripler Army Medical Center. Within 24 hours after the attending physician on the Pacific isle contacted the U.S. Army active-duty member, hospitalized on Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and requiring expeditious movement to a higher level of care this past April, his medical emergency had impeccable timing and the creative support of U.S. Kwajalein Island’s population is about 1,000, mostly Americans with a small number of Marshall Islanders and other nationalities, all of whom require express permission from the U.S. The area is about 1.2 square miles (3.1 km 2). It is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long and averages about 800 yards (730 m) wide. Since the entire Kwajalein Island is a military base, non-military passengers on commercial flights are transported to and from the neighboring island of Ebeye. The atoll lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100 nautical miles (3900 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, at 8☄3′N 167☄4′E. The total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 6 square miles (16 km 2). 13,500 Marshall Islanders live on the rest of the atoll, mostly on Ebeye Island. civilian personnel) often called by the shortened name, Kwaj. The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1000 mostly U.S. Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).
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