MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM 9 NOV 91

File: 123096_sep96_decls2_0033.txt
Page: 0033
Total Pages: 57

Subject: MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM 9 NOV 91       

Unit: VAR. BUMED  

Parent Organization: BUMED       

Box  ID: BX303801

Folder Title: VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6                                                                

Document Number:          2

Folder Seq  #:         10








                     Navy medical planners were generally sadffied with the strategic evacuation
                system. In some areas, however, the Air Force concept of operations placed unfore-
                seen, and in some cases unsupportable, requirements on deployed Navy medical
                facilities. First, the Air Force required each medical facility to provide each patient
                with three days of medication, one litter (with straps and pad), two blankets, water
                and @s, and any required medical support equipment, such as monitors, respira-
                tors, and pulse o3imeters. The component services were responsible for anagmg
                the intertheater return of this materiel and equipment. In addition, the MTF had to
                provide escort personnel for patients on respirators or cardiac monitors.           The
                escorts did not return to the MTF for 5 to 14 days. In late December, medical
                Pistnners noted that Navy N=s could not provide this support to large numbers of
                casualties without seriously degrading inpatient treatment capability. In January,
                the Air Force agreed to establish an equipment and personnel pool at each strategic
                airhead for use by medevac patients. The medevac requirements determined by the
                Military Airlift Command should @ reassessed. If validated, the equipment and
                personnel pool or some other arrangement must be formalized in future pl        ' g.

                     Second, in February, the Air Force noted that the strategic  'aeromedical evacua-
                tion hub supporting PH-5 and FH-15 had no patient reception, triage, or holding
                capability. The MASF normally provides reception and holding capacity for stabi-
                lized outgoing patients and has Tninims;l capability for receiving casualties. The
pany (MCC) to support
                the reception of casualties from echelons I and IL This support included offloading
                patients, triage, and transport to the fleet hospitals. Neither fleet hospital was
                staffed, supplied, or equipped to provide this capability, however. StaiTmg was
                provided by fleet hospital personnel, assisted by personnel assigned to the MASF,
                the ASF (collocated with the MASv'), the AECE, and Marine Corps medical person-
                nel as required and available. FH-5 and FH-15 provided consumable medical
                supplies for shock and trauma patients from their e3dsting stock. Faced with
                mass casualties, fleet hospital personnel may not be available for this mission.

                     A third concern of Navy medical pla-nners was the number and distribution of
                the Air Force AELTs who arrange for patient transportation. The Air Force nor-
                mary provides an AELT to serve all medical facilities in an area served by MASF.
                However, because Navy medical personnel were not well trained in AELT proce-
                dures and did not have adequate communication capability to reach the AELT,
                Navy medical pla-n-ners requested AELTs for each echelon III facility. The Air Force
                agreed in concept to this proposal but found that theater requirements for AELTs
                exceeclid the number available. Only FH-5 received an AELT. In mid February,
                AECE moved this AELT to FH-15, which had weaker communication @ than




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Document 57 f:/Week-37/BX303801/VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6/medical operations during operation desert storm:1217961126393
Control Fields 17
File Room = sep96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-37
Box ID = BX303801
Unit = VAR. BUMED
Parent Organization = BUMED
Folder Title = VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6
Folder Seq # = 10
Subject = MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM
Document Seq # = 2
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 17-DEC-1996