USTRANSCOM exercises aeromedical teams and global patient movement

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (April 28, 2021) – U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) began a week-long aeromedical and global patient movement exercise, Ultimate Caduceus, April 26 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The exercise will validate the readiness of the command’s in-flight care teams and patient movement enterprise in response to a significant crisis.

USTRANSCOM provides the world's only long-range, high-altitude aeromedical evacuation capability, providing en route health care management to patients from forward locations to points of definitive medical care across the globe.

Within a moment's notice, mobility aircraft can be transformed into flying hospitals.

As a unique and significant part of the nation's mobility resources, aeromedical evacuation is the primary mode of movement for military patients worldwide. In the past year, “USTRANSCOM aeromedically evacuated 6,324 patients (71 having sustained battle injuries), 350 of whom were COVID-positive,” said U.S. Army Gen. Stephen R. Lyons, commander of USTRANSCOM.

“Given the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are grateful for the exceptional efforts of the U.S. Air Force, industry, and academia to deliver a material solution within 90 days to safely airlift highly infectious patients. I am extremely proud of the resilience and ingenuity of the aeromedical evacuation enterprise to meet these challenges this past year,” said Lyons.

Aeromedical evacuation teams are one part of the Department of Defense’s global patient movement enterprise that maintains a global posture, with patient regulating and validation teams, critical care air transport teams, specialized patient movement equipment and aeromedical evacuation experts in air operations centers all working together to bring our nation’s ill and injured home.

Approximately 210 military and civilian personnel will participate in the exercise, including active and reserve U.S. Air Force members, along with representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services.

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