Time to reach hospital more than halved

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Army Spc. Paul Pickett helps evacuate a wounded soldier in August after their armored vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan's Tangi Valley. Since January, the military has reduced by almost one hour the time it takes to transport a soldier wounded in Afghanistan to a hospital.


Time to reach hospital more than halved
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Dec 10, 2009 6:38:39 EST

During the past year, the U.S. military reduced to 42 minutes from 100 minutes the average time it takes for a badly wounded service member in Afghanistan to reach a hospital, even as the casualty rate tripled, according to military commanders.

Five new field hospitals were constructed to reduce flight distances, and the number of medical evacuation helicopters was tripled to 36 from 12, says Air Force Col. Warren Dorlac and Army Lt. Col. Kyle Burrow, who supervise medevac duties in Afghanistan.

In January, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for improved medevac times in Afghanistan. He complained before Congress that the standard in Iraq was to deliver a wounded soldier within an hour and this was not close to being matched in Afghanistan.

“The secretary didn’t understand and wasn’t willing to accept there being two different standards for those two theaters,” says Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. “To him, it just made no sense.”

Although improved survival rates are the goal of faster patient delivery, field commanders are still calculating whether quicker times have saved lives, says Marine Corps Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command. A complicating factor, he says, is that survival is determined largely by wound severity, regardless of the travel time.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/gns_medevac_afghanistan_121009/