En Route Critical Care Evacuations From Rarely Utilized Partner Medical Treatment Facilities: A Case Series With Lessons Learned

Abstract

ABSTRACT Retaining lessons learned from Critical Care Air Transport (CCAT) missions is essential given the recent decrease in operational currency among CCAT personnel. The objective of this case series was to identify and analyze logistical lessons learned from recent critical care transports involving foreign medical treatment facilities with sufficient detail for the CCAT community to incorporate these lessons into future readiness and sustainment training. The provider from each mission submitted a mission narrative with lessons learned. A qualitative analysis of lessons learned described themes from the lessons, as well as similarities and differences from included missions. Three missions were reviewed and four distinct mission stages were identified: (1) pre-mission, (2) at U.S. aircraft, (3) away from U.S. aircraft, and (4) post-mission. Pre-mission lessons learned included the need for professional civilian attire for deployed CCAT teams and the limited availability of pre-mission clinical information. Lessons learned at the aircraft included the following: the need for flexible mission timelines, coordinate and pre-plan transitions with foreign medical teams when possible, and plan for difficult environmental conditions if flight line transfer is required. Lessons learned away from the aircraft included communication challenges between CCAT and the aircraft, contingency planning for narcotic transports, and equipment interoperability issues. Post-mission lessons learned included the need for written communication to disseminate information to the CCAT community. This case series described logistical challenges that present during transport missions involving foreign hospitals. This published series will enable dissemination to the en route care community for possible incorporation into future training.