Keesler critical care air transport teams provide care to Haitian earthquake victims

Published Feb. 11, 2010
By Steve Pivnick
81st Training Group Public Affairs

KEESLER AFB, Ms. -- Two 81st Medical Group teams have been providing vital care to victims of the Haiti earthquake airlifted to hospitals in Florida. Two three-person critical care air transport teams from Keesler have joined other Air Force CCATTs in the lifesaving effort.

Members of the two teams from the 81st Medical Operations Squadron are emergency medicine physician Maj. (Dr.) Stephen Boskovich, critical care nurse Capt. John Michael Fowler and respiratory therapist Tech. Sgt. Rich Pakula and emergency medicine physician Capt. (Dr.) Kirk Hinkley, critical care nurse Capt. Claudia Clark and respiratory therapist Staff Sgt. Emmanuel Coley.

According to Major Boskovich, they have treated "all ages, children to adults. Some are very critical and on a ventilator, some with a high risk of decompensation in flight. On my last flight, all three of my patients were children ages 4-14."

The major said their highest tempo of missions were the daily ones to Haiti, "with as many litter patients as we could fit on the plane (20-30) and four to five critical patients attended by the CCATT team." He explained they are staying in Tampa, Fla. and operate out of MacDill Air Force Base.

"We would pick up the patients in Haiti and fly them back to the states, distributing them to hospitals throughout Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa) in coordination with Florida emergency medical services. It's about a three-hour flight to Haiti on a C-130. We have been flying into Port au Prince airport and pick up patients from the mobile aeromedical staging facility set up just off the flight line."

Major Boskovich noted that most of the wounds the teams have seen are the result of crush injuries: skull and extremity fractures, head injuries, amputations, burns. "We've also encountered medical emergencies like sepsis. I had an actual case of tetanus, which is very rare in the U.S. because of our good vaccination policies."