RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Medical personnel and aerial medics from the African nations of Senegal, Ghana, and Chad exchanged best practices and methods of patient care with their U.S. Air Force counterparts from the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces’ Africa Command Surgeon’s Team during a three-day Aeromedical Evacuation Familiarization Visit at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in September.
Coordination of this first-ever multi-lateral event was a collaborative effort among key personnel from the Command Surgeon’s Global Health Engagement team, the 86th Medical Group staff, and respective U.S. Embassies in Africa. This event represents a significant step forward in deepening strategic relationships between the U.S. and influential African countries.
“This is an opportunity for our partner nations to take what they learned to their home military and underscore the importance of strong medical care as a force enhancer whether in peacekeeping or wartime operations,” said Col. Thomas Stamp, USAFE-AFAFRICA Command Surgeon.
Throughout the span of three days the delegates received familiarization with various AE groups and systems, including:
- The Medical Group Enroute Patient Staging System, which holds the patient before and after an AE mission.
- The MDG Simulation Center which trains and prepares personnel to provide patient care, and the TRANSCOM Patient Movement Requirement Center, providing command and control of AE patient movement.
- A hands-on familiarization event between the African medical delegates and U.S. Air Force AE Flight Nurses aboard a static U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft, which included an exchange of culminative knowledge on patient care and movement.
The event was facilitated and funded by U.S. African Command.
The best practices shared during this event build on those that medics from Ghana, Senegal, and Chad have been practicing through participation in the Aeromedical Evacuation Training initiative. AMET is a multi-stage, structured United Nations program that prepares partner nations to participate in United Nation Peacekeeping Operations.
In January 2024, the Senegal Air Force completed the entire AMET process which began in 2019, with Phase One training of AE familiarization.
Phase Two, Train-the-Trainer, is used to definitively hone what the trainees have learned during Phase One. Candidates are chosen to become trainers in their respective nation and learn in-depth critical care aspects of AE operations. The final phase is an evaluation to prepare the partner nation for U.N. validation to determine eligibility for medical readiness and capabilities in support of peace keeping operations.
One of the participants in the event was Gen. Mahamat Haggar Brahim, director of Health Services of the Chadian Air Force. Brahim observed the training to gain awareness of the total AE process, which enhances his nation’s capacity to respond to a potential future crisis within the African area of responsibility through, U.N. Peacekeeping Operations.
“We are very happy with the help and thankful to the U.S. for the exchange of ideas on how to best build our AE simulation center,” Brahim said as the training concluded.