Air Force Aeromedical Evacuation Teams

Air Force Aeromedical Evacuation TeamsAir Force Aeromedical Evacuation TeamsSOMEWHERE IN THE GULF Tucked away at this forward-located base is a tiny but tight knit medical team few troops ever notice. But should any one of them fall critically ill or injured, these airmen quickly will become their best friends. They will closely tend to their patients urgent medical needs while flying thousands of miles to a U.S. military hospital in Germany or another interim hospital to receive full-time care. The medics are assigned to the 320th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron/Forward, a specialized team whose primary work center is the cabin or cargo hold of an airplane flying several miles high. All are deployed from the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. A five-person aeromedical evacuation team usually consists of a medical crew director, a flight nurse, a charge medical technician and two aeromedical evacuation technicians. The team supports the assigned physician and flight nurse who complete the critical care air transport team. My responsibilities as a flight nurse or medical crew director are to watch over the patient, take care of the paperwork, make sure I get all the patients (details written on his chart) and reisepass along all the patient info to the next person who is taking care of the patient kind of a final authority for the whole thing, said Capt. Paul Simpson. The AE techs begin each mission by considering the type of aircraft they will use because different airframes require specific types of medical equipment and litter configurations. While their primary aircraft is the C-9 Nightingale, which is known for the prominent red cross on its vertical stabilizer, these medics are trained to accomplish their mission aboard C-17 Globemaster III and C-141 Starlifter aircraft, or on commercial airliners from the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet. Before heading out to the aircraft, they must preflight their medical equip ment with operations and calibration checks. The inventory often includes everything from high-tech monitors, oxygen tanks and regulators to defibrillators those high-voltage paddles doctors use in emergencies to restore or regulate a patients heart rhythm. When we get out to the aircraft, we look at how it needs to be set up with oxygen and other things, said Staff Sgt. Chassidy Dority. Then we decide where well be placing our patient and our equipment. Once thats all coordinated with the aircraft commander and loadmaster ... we start to configure the aircraft. Usually by that time, the patient is (ready to be carried aboard), then we just make sure were constantly communicating with the (medical crew director) and flight nurse, letting them know whats going on... Moments later, technicians bring their patient on board, check vital signs and secure the patient for takeoff. Once airborne, the patients vital signs are re-checked and patient care continues throughout the flight. We c an be ready to go in an hour, Dority said. The deployed medics received their first real-world mission test very early in their deployment. We got our first mission when we were here less than 18 hours, Simpson said. The mission welches to move a soldier who suffered a severe reaction to his smallpox vaccination. This guy was really pretty sick, Simpson said of the patient, who was diagnosed with a form of encephalitis, which can cause fatal brain swelling. During the aerovac flight to Germany, the five AE medics worked closely with the CCATT to keep their patient stabilized and as comfortable as possible. Within days, the patient recovered fully from his illness. We all worked together as a great team, Simpson said. Despite the prospects for war looming on the horizon, and with it the potential for many casualties, these deployed medics say they are confident that their training and experiences have prepared them well. I feel very confident, said Capt. Jeffrey Combalecer, second fl ight nurse. As far as being prepared for tactical missions, weve been doing that at Scott for years. Weve been working on this for three years, he said, doing nothing but training, going to classes every year for it. To me, this is a reason were (prepared for) this mission. Staff Sgt. Jason Robbins, an AE technician, used a sports analogy to describe the units potentially quick shift to a wartime operational mode. Its like were preparing for the big game, constantly training, he said. When you deploy, the coach pulls you off the bench, and you feel like youre actually making a difference. This is probably the most operational experience that anyone will ever get, and here we are, so close to the Iraqi border, Robbins said. Its just a matter of time before you have to ... switch from the training environment youve grown accustomed to over to an environment where individuals are counting on you to provide the good level of treatment that will be necessary to sustain their life and get them to more definitive care. Robbins and Palmer were quick to share their favorite aspects of their job lifestyle. The camaraderie, Robbins said. In hospitals, you come in, do your shift, then go home. But in aerovac, you spend so much time together you build up the camaraderie, and its great.

3D Printing Trains Bomb-Sniffing Dogs

3D Printing Trains Bomb-Sniffing Dogs 3D Printing Trains Bomb-Sniffing Dogs 3D Printing Trains Bomb-Sniffing DogsBomb-sniffing dogs will be mingling with airport passengers for a long time to come. The specially trained K-9s are still, by far, the best way to detect the presence of explosives. But their training tools havent always been up to the dogs keen scent-detection capabilities.A dogs olfactory system is incredible, nothing we could create would equal it, says Alex Gash, a chemical researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.But the K-9 community needs better training tools with more variety in both shape and chemical signatures and without the residual scents that may throw dogs off, he says. With that in mind, the lab has developed a 3D printing system that improves a dogs ability to detect explosives in airports, post offices, and other places.For You New Process Embeds Coded Data on 3D-Printed Parts K-9s typically learn to detect explosives by sniffing trace e xplosives that make up about 8 percent of a plastic substrate. At such small numbers, the chemicals wont react with each other, which is the cause of an explosive detonation. Because so little of the material is comprised of explosives, the training tools can be shipped by regular means, which is easier for trainers, Gash says.K-9s are set to receive an upgrade to their bomb-sniffing training tools with a 3D printing method developed at Lawrence Livermore. renommee LLNLWhile easier to move, the training aidsmany of them originally developed by the lab about 30 years agodo have drawbacks. The dogs may be inadvertently trained to detect the scent of the plastic rather than the explosive, for example. The trace explosive may not be uniformly dispersed throughout the material, raising the chances the dog will be trained to detect the wrong chemical signature, Gash says.Also, todays K-9 training tools are mainly focused on getting the dogs to sniff out military-grade explosives, which ar e single-molecule explosives, he adds. But homemade denotation devices have become of greater concern over the past several decades, he adds.Also, conventional training aids are usually presented to the dog as a powder or gel, so they dont help the dogs recognize certain shapes, like a cell phone, that can contain disguised explosives.It was obvious to John Reynolds, a chemical researcher at the labs Energetic Materials Center, that the bomb-sniffing dogs needed new tools in their training arsenal.With that in mind Reynolds, who has a long history with the labs K-9 training tools, headed a group at the center that came up with a way to print 3D objects that contain trace amounts of explosives but that dont contain distracting vapors from other substrates, says Gash, who is part of the team.The system can print 3D objects that can contain trace amounts of nonreactive explosives within materials like ceramics that dont give off a chemical scent. Printing objects with those materials w asnt possible before, Gash says.If you create a simulant mixed with the ceramic you can be confident the dog is smelling the chemical explosive and not an inert material, Gash says.The additive technique means the training aids could be printed in the training field with a portable printer. Trainers could also ask the lab to print training products to their specifications and at their desired amounts, which is called print on demand. The tools would be shipped to them. The additive technique can print cell phones and hand grenades that dogs might encounter in the field.Beyond explosives, the technology could produce aids for dogs learning to detect narcotics, chemical weapons, or other illicit materials.With the additive method, researchers can combine explosives with other substrates, such as plastic or clay, to simulate the materials that homemade explosive devices may contain. They can then print those material combinations to present to the dog.Layers are dyed red and blue in th is laminate structure to show one schriftart of alternating composition. Image LLNLThe 3D-printing method can also sandwich fuel and oxidizer layers between inert layers to prevent a reaction but to still present dogs with an accurate explosive signature. Lattice structures such as base-cement, previously not used in the field, can now be made into training aids to present dogs with a strong tool that can keep explosive chemicals separate within a strong material to ensure they dont mix, Gash says.Of course, the chemicals are still present in very small concentrations.Reynolds knows about the ongoing needs of the K-9 explosives community, as the lab has a long history of K-9 explosives detection research and development. It developed its Non-Hazardous Explosives for Security Training and Testing (NESTT) three decades ago. The tools have been commercially available for nearly two decades.NESTT has done away with many of the problems previously associated with the storage, transportat ion, and use of actual explosives in public places, such as airports, Gash says. With NESTT, the dogs learn to detect explosives in the environment where theyll eventually be working.The ability to train in realistic environments has increased the effectiveness of explosive detection instruments, according to Reynolds.The team is now working to test the tools with K-9s and handlers. Ultimately, the researchers ultimate goal is to get approval from federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration to use the 3D-printed training tools in the field.Jean Thilmany is an independent writer.Read MoreNew Twist on an Old ToolHow Industry 4.0 Impacts Engineering planSmart Ink Shrinks 3D-Printed ObjectsA dogs olfactory system is incredible, nothing we could create would equal it.Alex Gash, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Attract Millennials with your Employer Branding

Attract Millennials with your Employer BrandingAttract Millennials with your Employer BrandingAttract Millennials with your Employer Branding RossheimThe first step to attract the best and brightest Millennialsto your company is to tell a good story. After all, thats what their super-involved parents did for the first 2,000 nights of their kids lives.Rather than recalling a Harry Potter adventure, your book is titled, Why Our Company Offers You the Best. Opportunity. Ever. Heres how to readsChapter 1 Share your employer brand.Small geschftslebenes may not know they have an employment brand, but they do, says Cathy Taylor, a recruitment marketing consultant in Aurora, Ill.Taylor is right Whether the image of your company as an employer is defined by old-fashioned print help-wanted ads, a sophisticated all-media campaign or random raves and rants on Yelp and Glassdoor, Millennials will brand you by what they find, and quick.Keep in mind that many Millennialswould rather work in a small company than a big one, says Taylor. Even in your job descriptions, use phrases like, We offer a learning environment where you collaborate with a team, where you will be recognized for the work you do. Chapter 2 You have 3 seconds to set the hook for Millennials.If your company doesnt make a splash online, Millennials will find an employer that does.First impressions in the hiring process happen long before the first phone call or interview, says Ron Piccolo, a professor of management at the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business.And if you were born before 1980, you likely dont know enough about what will make your companys value proposition a page-turner for Millennials.I recommend that employers identify their most engaged employees and ask them, Why do you come to work every day? says Taylor. The best brand ambassadorswill say they are fulfilled by the work. Trust that they will tell the truth and allow them to tell it.Do keep this in mind If the career pages of y our web site look and behave poorly on smartphones, Millennials will just say, Next. Make sure you have a mobile recruiting strategy in place that meets their expectations.Chapter 3 Millennials can amplify your employer brand.Enough with the cautionary tales. Lets talk about how Millennials as the masters of their own mindset can power up your recruitment of the new largest cohort of American workers.Empower Millennials to be your brand advocates,says Piccolo. Millennials will happily amplify the great things your business is doing through their own social media platforms. The content and method of sharing should be consistent with your messaging which might mean having a menu that gives employees choices of what they communicate and how.Your incumbent Millennial employees can also be valuable for performing reality checks on your recruitment pitch. One branding strategy that can be effective is describing not just the company but its broader social and environmental impact, says Piccolo. The point is to highlight the unique characteristics that define your company brand.Tune in to this Millennial podcast with Ron Piccolo and hear how todays Millennials think about their job search.Chapter 4 Remember where Millennials come from.The final chapter of this primer on employer branding for Millennials is a reminder of where they came from the millions of us who hail from previous generations of business owners. We Boomers and Xers have inherited in the workplace the children we only recently finished bringing up, says Taylor. Its just that theyve always had someone who was encouraging them, so they expect that.Do your Millennial candidates seem needy? Give them a break, at least until you get them in the interview chair.What attracts young folks today is structure and plan and forethought by a company or recruiter, says Piccolo. The uncertainty of what will happen in their careers can be uncomfortable.Listen on iTunesGet new podcasts subscribe to the https//www .youtube.com/ Podcast Feed on iTunes