MEDEVAC Matters

[snip]

“This combat video was made in September 2011 in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.  A bomb was planted in our path.  A young, highly-liked Soldier named Chazray Clark triggered the blast.  Chazray lost an arm and both legs.  Despite great pain, Chazray was awake and lucid the entire time.

A tragedy was unfolding.  The US military, at the direction of former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, strives to get our wounded to hospitals within the “Golden Hour.”  The military mostly accomplishes this with incredible speed, often under direct enemy fire.   They could do much better.

After casualties are sustained, the medical evacuation helicopters typically will not launch until a “9-line” report is transmitted from the field.  During this mission, due to the calm discipline of the Soldiers of 4-4 Cav, the 9-line was transmitted in only six minutes.  That’s fast.

Bold accounting magic has been used to redefine the Golden Hour.  The true starting gun for the biological Golden Hour begins at the moment of injury.  The military Golden Hour begins after the 9-line is received.  If combat or other circumstance delays the 9-line by 20 minutes, the military Golden Hour becomes 80 minutes.  But when we hear a military spokesmen saying that average MEDEVAC times are 50 minutes, what they are really saying is 50 minutes plus the 9-line time, and they won’t mention that 9-line buffer.  This audacious deception angers many military people who know about it.

I reported that 65 minutes were used to get Chazray Clark to the hospital.  The military rebuked my initial report, saying it took only 59.  They took the Golden Hour tax deduction, deceived the public, and did so in writing.

It took 65 minutes.  It should have taken 25.   There are several reasons why Chazray suffered the additional 40 minutes.

The first reason is the 9-line.  Pilots in Afghanistan say there is no need to wait.  They should launch immediately upon notification of serious wounds.  They can pick up the 9-line in flight.

The bigger reason is a longstanding Army policy to wear Red Crosses on their helicopters.  The Army will say that in accordance with the Geneva Conventions they must wear the Red Crosses, and therefore cannot carry machine guns on the helicopters.  This is false: neither the Air Force, nor the Marines, nor British wear the Red Crosses, and they go armed.  The enemies in Afghanistan do not adhere to the Geneva Conventions.  Is the Army saying that the Air Force, Marines and British are in violation of Geneva Conventions by not wearing the Red Crosses?  Of course not.  But the Army wears the Red Crosses as crucifixes to avoid uncomfortable change.” [snip]

The entire article and reader comments can be read here.