Hurricane Gustav support from 932nd AES

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  • By 932nd Airlift Wing
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  HISTORICAL REPORT FROM THE GATEWAY PAPER: Members of the 932nd Aeromedical Evacua tion Squadron (AES) deployed to South ern Louisiana to help with the evacuation of patients after Hurrican Gustav made landfall Aug. 30. Maj. Linda Sitton, Staff Sgt. David Counts and Lt. Col. Melanie Jescavage arrived at Little Rock AFB, Ark. early Saturday morning, Aug. 30, via a C-17. They were met by senior leadership of the C-130 front end squadrons who helped them get settled - great support Another crew had already arrived, so the 932nd members were trying to get settled and find everyone. They entered crew rest at 6:45 a.m. At 11:11 p.m. that night, the phone rang. "We showed, briefed, and preflighted a C-130 for the mission," said Lt. Colonel Jescavage. "We had no idea what patients we were getting, how many, or how critical, etc." The group had a critical care team with them, and pre- pared for 30 litter patients. They also were dropping off a second AE (911th AES) and Critical Care Aeromedical Transport (CCAT) team to meet a C-17 at their first destination of Lake Charles, La. "We dropped the ramp and saw rows and rows of headlights from ambulances. It was a pretty amazing and daunting sight," she said. "We offloaded the other crews to the adjacent C-17 - they were to be the first to take off...our C-130 was to go second." While they watched the C-17 getting situated and loaded, Sergeant Counts led the team through the set up of oxygen, electricity, supplies, etc. The patients were prima- rily elderly coming from multiple hospitals who needed con- tinuous hospital care. "Major Sitton did an excellent job assessing every pa- tient - she had eyeballs on everyone and pulled in the CCAT doctor to address a few issues before we loaded," said Lt. Colonel Jescavage. "Staff Sgt. Rebecca Diaz helped with patient preparation and assisted Major Sitton with identifi- cation and assessment of the patients. Tech. Sgt. Michelle Gray also had all patient belongings bagged and tagged and at the foot of the ramp before we even started loading. We watched the sun rise as the C-17 took off and we started our load." The team finally got everyone settled and took off for the civilian airport at Little Rock with 24 litters (three were CCAT, no vents) and three ambulatory. "It was the kind of mission that you sorta cross your fingers that everyone's still breathing when you land. We had patients four and five high - elderly, sick, confused, hot, etc. I have never seen a crew work harder - I am really proud of them." They were met by a contingent of volunteers who had mobilized with the VA medical system. The group unloaded that plane averaging a minute per patient. They had triage lines set up in a hanger, cold drinks, food, rest areas, etc. According to Lt. Colonel Jescavage, they had "obviously practiced this and were prepared." "We turned the plane back toward Lake Charles - by this time it was around noon on Sunday - nice and hot. We landed during a lull, although they were still trying to get 16 criticals and 40 others out." The team finally made it to their hotel at 5:45 p.m., not sure when they would get the next call. NOTE: Condensed from a field report by Lt. Col. Melanie Jescavage, 932nd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. As of press time, the AES was standing by to possibly help with other hurricanes.