Airbus A310 MRTT MedEvac - Flying Hospital, Luftwaffe

Sikorsky S-76 civil medevac helicopter on standby at Ottawa International Airport

Medical evacuation — often termed MEDEVAC or medivac — is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to the wounded being evacuated from the battlefield, or to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of an accident, to receiving medical facilities (hospitals), using medically equipped ground vehicles (ambulances) or aircraft (air ambulances). WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout An ambulance is a Vehicle for transporting sick or injured people to from or between places of treatment for an Illness or Injury. An air ambulance is an Aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional Ambulance cannot easily or quickly reach Examples include civilian EMT vehicles, civilian aeromedical helicopter services, and Army air ambulances. This term also covers the transfer of patients from the battlefield to a treatment facility or from one treatment facility to another by medical personnel, such as from a Navy ship to a shore-based Naval hospital.

The term medevac is commonly applied to a vehicle, plane, or helicopter used as an ambulance (sometimes called an "air ambulance"). Vehicles, derived from the Latin word vehiculum, are non-living Means of transport. Overview Fixed-wing aircraft range from small training and recreational aircraft to Wide-body aircraft and military cargo aircraft. History Since 400 AD Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys. An ambulance is a Vehicle for transporting sick or injured people to from or between places of treatment for an Illness or Injury. An air ambulance is an Aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional Ambulance cannot easily or quickly reach This permits the rapid transport of seriously injured persons, particularly trauma patients, from the scene of the accident to the hospital. Treatment of physical trauma is described here and in First aid. A hospital is an institution for Health care providing treatment by specialised staff and equipment and often but not always providing for News accounts of such transportation often use the terms 'airlifted' or 'LifeFlighted', although medevac is a common term used by civilians as well. Most patients transported by medevac are taken to a specialized hospital known as a trauma center. A trauma center is a Hospital equipped to provide comprehensive Emergency medical services to patients suffering traumatic injuries Medevac can be misconstrued, as it may not clarify as to whether ground or air assets are being utilized, and therefore it is best to make it clear during planning and communication.

The technique has its roots in the establishment of the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service, which was established in 1928 to bring doctors to patients and patients to hospitals from the remote outback. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia ( RFDS, informally known as The Flying Doctors) is an Air ambulance service for those living in the remote inland Inevitably, the immense military potential of the practice was realized with the development of the helicopter. A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking History Since 400 AD Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys.

The U.S. Army pioneered this lifesaving technique in Burma toward the end of World War II. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar ( pjìdàunzṵ mjàmmà nàinŋàndɔ̀ is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including They established semi-permanent field hospitals immediately behind the front lines, which allowed wounded soldiers to receive complete medical treatment after only a short helicopter flight. The technique was depicted in the M*A*S*H film and television series. See also M*A*S*H (TV series, M*A*S*H MASH is a American satirical Dark comedy Film directed by Robert Altman M*A*S*H was a Medical drama / Black comedy produced by 20th Television Fox for CBS.

U. S. Military MEDEVAC unit 126th Med (Air Ambulance) in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 2003

HMMWV Windshield displaying medevac reporting procedures while on patrol in Iraq

In modern American military terminology, medevac is often differentiated from Casualty Evacuation (casevac). For the 2001 film see Kandahar (film; for the Kandahar meteorite of 1959 see Meteorite falls; for the places in Azerbaijan see Cəndəhar and Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. This article refers to the Military HMMWV not the civilian Hummer sold by General Motors The M998 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Casevac is a Portmanteau word meaning " casualty evacuation" In this context, medevac refers to the moving of a patient either from the point of injury, or a casualty collection point, to a medical facility or between the different levels of care with en route medical care whereas casevac has limited or no en route care and medical equipment.

Casevac is heavily utilized by the US Marine Corps and manned by US Navy Hospital Corpsman; its helicopters are combat aircraft and will, as needed, land in 'hot zones' medevac helicopters would not, due to hostile fire. Accordingly, medevac aircraft are normally modified aircraft with lifesaving equipment on board as well as trained medical personnel as part of the aircrew. The aircraft are marked with the Red Cross/Crescent, and as such, covered by the Geneva Convention, thereby allowing the aircrew to only carry personal weapons. In the US Military, the medevac mission is performed primarily by the US Army.

In Australian military terminology, a medevac refers to the evacuation of an entire section for medical reasons while a casevac refers to the evacuation of a small number of troops, usually just one.

The phrase 'Aeromedical evacuation' or AEROVAC is also used to refer to transportation of medical cases from one medical facility to another with a higher level of care, a particular skill set or in the case of combat to a safer environment, with the capability for sophisticated en route care (ventilators, etc). Aeromedical Evacuation (AE usually refers to specialized medical transportation units in the US Air Force. In the US Military, this is done primarily by the US Air Force to move patients out of the combat theater aboard fixed wing aircraft.

The first civilian medevac in the United States was performed by the Maryland State Police Aviation Command on March 19, 1970. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Maryland State Police is the official State police force of the State of Maryland. ^[1][2][3] Private medevac flights are also frequently used to air-lift seriously ill or injured travelers out of remote rural areas or from countries with inadequate or non-existent medical facilities.

See also

• Aeromedical Evacuation
• Air Ambulance
• Casualty evacuation
• Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society
• Medivac (TV series)
• International SOS

References

External links

• Association of Air Medical Services