Ramstein Air Base, Germany —
Medical personnel and flight corpsmen from African countries Senegal, Ghana and Chad exchanged patient care best practices and methods with their U.S. Air Force counterparts from the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and U.S. Air Forces Europe – Air Force Africa A military medical team during a three-day aeromedical evacuation familiarization visit at Ramstein Air Base, Germany in September.
Coordination of this first-ever multilateral event was a collaborative effort between key personnel from the Command Surgeon General’s Global Health Action Team, 86th Medical Group staff, and each U.S. embassy in Africa. This event represents a significant step forward in deepening strategic ties between the United States and influential African countries.
“This is an opportunity for our partner nations to take what they have learned back to their militaries and emphasize the importance of powerful medical care as a force multiplier, whether in peacekeeping or wartime operations,” said USAFE-AFAFRICA Command. said Colonel Thomas Stamp, a military surgeon.
Throughout the three days, participants learned about various AE groups and systems, including:
Medical Group’s patient staging system holds patients before and after AE missions. The MDG Simulation Center, which trains and prepares personnel to provide patient care, and the TRANSCOM Patient Movement Requirements Center, which directs and controls AE patient movements. A hands-on familiarization event between an African medical delegation and U.S. Air Force AE flight nurses aboard a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft, including the exchange of ultimate knowledge on patient care and mobility. It was.
This event was promoted and funded by U.S. Africa Command.
The best practices shared at this event build on best practices that health workers in Ghana, Senegal, and Chad have been implementing through their participation in the Aeromedical Evacuation Training Initiative. AMET is a multi-stage, structured United Nations program that prepares partner countries to participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations.
In January 2024, the Senegalese Air Force completed the entire AMET process that began in 2019 and conducted the first phase of AE proficiency training.
Phase 2, Train the Trainer, is used to thoroughly hone what trainees learned in Phase 1. Candidates will be selected to become trainers in their respective countries and learn more about the critical care aspects of AE work. The final stage is an assessment to prepare partner countries for UN verification to determine the suitability of medical readiness and capabilities to support peacekeeping operations.
One of the participants at the event was General Mahamat Haggar Brahim, Director of the Chad Air Force Health Services. Mr. Brahim observed the exercise to gain awareness of the overall AE process, which strengthens the country’s ability to respond to potential future crises within its African area of responsibility through UN peacekeeping operations.
“We are very happy with the support and grateful to the United States for exchanging ideas on how best to build an AE simulation center,” Brahim said at the end of the training.
