Transport Isolation System brings DOD new capability to move patients

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – Gen.  Paul J. Selva, commander of U.S. Transportation Command, today publicly introduced a new, innovative capability that will allow the Department of Defense to air transport multiple patients with highly infectious diseases.  The Transport Isolation System has now reached initial operational capability and crews are trained and ready to deploy anywhere in the world in response to a biological event.

During Operation United Assistance, the need for such a system came to light. Although there was a commercial company that could transport patients, the capacity to do so was very limited.

A convergence of many agencies quickly moved on acquiring the system, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, USTRANSCOM, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Joint Project Manager – Protection, Air Mobility Command, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center among others.

The JCS approved a USTRANSCOM request for urgent funding in September, and less than four months later; the TIS went from development through testing and evaluation into production.

During this morning’s rollout of the TIS, Maj. Gen. John P. Horner, DTRA deputy director, Barry Corona, president of Production Products, Maj. Gen. Scott M. Hanson, AMC director of operations, and Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Kory Cornum, AMC command surgeon, joined Selva in the public debut of the system.

“We needed a system like the one you see today,” Selva said. “In short order we partnered with our technical experts at DTRA and in about 120 days from the day we said go, to the day we had a flight tested, ready piece of equipment – they delivered.”

But more than just a rapid acquisition-to-fielding success story, this showcases the initiative and innovation of one small minority-owned business, Production Products of St. Louis, which manufactured the commercial isolation units which have been used to air transport patients and now produces the TIS.

“It was a team effort, every day we had people from TRANSCOM in our shop, everyone that was on this team made it happen in an amazingly short period of time,” said Corona.

The beauty of the system is that it is built to fit on existing mobility aircraft, including the Air Force’s C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III.  It is also based on existing military patient support pallets. Each unit has a disposable liner supported by a metal structure and an air filtration system.

“The infectious disease module provides us a safe way to bring multiple patients back,” said Cornum.  

Compared to the current Production Products system used on commercial air ambulances, the TIS is modular, buildable and capable of transporting up to three litter patients or four ambulatory patients in each module. This allows for flexibility in configuration; the standard configuration is for two seats and one litter.

Two isolation modules and an anteroom module can fit on a C-17 or C-130J Super Hercules, and one isolation module and an anteroom module will fit on a C-130 Hercules. Each module is roughly 9 feet by 7.5 feet, is 8.5 feet tall and weighs less than 1,500 pounds, about the size of a minivan.

The Department of Defense has ordered 25 systems from Production Products, with expected delivery of all units by the end of March.  Joint Base Charleston has received the first two systems for training and staging. Additional staging locations for the TIS will be developed following delivery and based upon ongoing world events.  

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