MUNICH, GERMANY — Calm, cool, and collected, Reserve Airmen from the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, swiftly loaded several mock patients onto a C17 Globemaster III for in-flight medical training before departing the U.S. for Munich, Germany.
The intent of this training mission is to provide realistic medical scenarios and instill reactions to various situations or emergencies that become automatic. In effort to train 315th AES Airmen to quickly identify a situation and react instinctively, whether it is an aircraft emergency or a change in a patient's status.
"That way our nurses and technicians are prepared to transport patients safely to the next level of care," said Lt. Col. Patrick Kennedy, 315th AES chief of standards, evaluations and flight nurse.
Team Charleston's Aeromedical Evacuation Airmen had a 99 percent survival rate and set high standards for training scenarios for 315th AES nurses and medics to maintain that rate.
"There are nurses and medics and there are flight nurses and medics, then there are Charleston flight nurses and medics. Our reputation in the system is second to none," Kennedy said.
One such 315th AES medical technician is Master Sgt. Jesse Bell, who meticulously monitored his patients throughout the eight-hour Atlantic crossing.
"Many opportunities derive from training missions like these; this allows me to build a skill set, keep up my certification, build comradery and travel," Bell said.
Kennedy said, "I want them to be the absolute best that they can be. Not for me, but for that wounded soldier that they are taking care of that deserves no less."