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***image1***Personnel assigned to the 435th Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility here celebrated the one-year anniversary last week of the opening of their facility.
The new CASF, originally established in the southside fitness center at the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, saw its first patients Dec. 29, 2003. This facility has served as the temporary home for more than 2,900 patients awaiting transport to the states.
“Our facility, equipped with 100 beds, a United Service Organizations-sponsored area that serves as a living room for patients, doctor’s offices and a pharmacy, was built in just two months,” said Maj. John Savage, CASF administrator.
But as robust as the facility is, the people who staff it are the real key to its success, said Major Savage.
“The staff here,” he said, “consists of about 100 people, roughly 25 of whom are permanently assigned to the medical clinic at Ramstein.” The remaining 75 or so personnel are deployed from other locations.
The deployed staff began serving in March 2003 with members from three different organizations. By contrast, the CASF is ending its fourth rotation of personnel this month, having hosted Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and Air Force active-duty members from more than 17 units during this rotation alone. Since the facility’s inception, 391 specialists from 55 units have been assigned to the 435th Medical Group to staff the CASF.
“We have an incredible mix of professionals working here,” said Maj Todd Miller, Chief Nurse for the CASF. “They come from places such as Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., and Scott Air Force Base, Ill., as well as Bangor Air National Guard Base, Maine, and the Barnes Air National Guard unit in Westfield, Mass.,” he said.
But the responsibilities of the 435th CASF aren’t limited to bedding down a few thousand patients. The CASF staff touches every patient that returns from downrange, whether supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.
“Our staff greets every arriving patient on Ramstein’s ramp, provides interim treatment and transport to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, then gets them back to the flightline for their trip home,” said Savage. “In fact, we retrieved, cared for and transported more than 22,000 patients this past year,” he said.
***image2***The 435th Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility, operating 24 hours a day, every day, is the busiest CASF in the Air Force. Even so, said Savage, our patients average a stay of just over 1.2 days, “and that’s our biggest sign of success.” “When the beds are empty, that means we are moving the patients as quickly as we can, ensuring they return home to their loved ones as soon as possible,” he said.
Even with this quick turn of wounded servicemembers, the 2,000-patient-per-month load and the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, this new CASF may never see its second anniversary.
“This is a new facility,” said Maj. Savage, “but it’s also a temporary one.”
The long term solution for the 435th CASF is to renovate the permanent building they share with the education office and that once housed a flight simulator. Construction is slated to begin later this year.
“So, while our next anniversary will likely be another first anniversary, our mission and the people who support it will continue on,” said Savage.
“The members of this unit do many amazing things every day,” he said, “but they never lose sight of the fact that they’ve been entrusted with the care of America’s sons and daughters, and we celebrate that honor daily.”
