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***image1***(Editor’s note: Second in a three-part series highlighting the 435th CASF.)
The 435th Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility is the first stage of decompression for the servicemembers leaving the war zone.
“Our home is a safe place for them,” said Capt. Sherman Anderson, 435th CASF permanent nurse.
The CASF looks after every patient coming off the aircraft here from downrange. Since the latest AEF rotation in December, the facility has supported more than 4,000 patient moves in the aeromedical evacuation system.
Most patients remain at the 100-bed facility for about one to two days, waiting for airlift to the United States. Critically wounded patients are transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center where they receive treatment and then return back to the CASF to catch an outbound flight. Even though their time is limited at the facility, patients are well taken of, from everything to paperwork and medical care to getting enough medicines to last through their travels.
Once the patients arrive at the facility, they are clinically screened and assessed, medications are reviewed and they are briefed on their new environment. The nurses assess patients to make sure they are not in pain after the long five- to eight-hour flight.
“One of the hardest things about our job here at the CASF is that we need to be prepared because we don’t always know when another patient mission will be landing at the flightline,” said 1st Lt. John Maningas, 435th CASF deployed nurse.
During their stay, flight surgeons make sure the patients are aeromedically fit to fly, said Lt. Col. Allan Bushnell, 435th CASF senior flight surgeon.
“We have to make sure they received the proper medical care and no other medical conditions exist that could keep them from flying home,” said Colonel Bushnell.
Pain management is also a part of caring for patients at the CASF. Many patients have painful injuries and the stress of the flight adds to that pain.
“My job is to make sure the patients get what the physicians prescribe, even if I have to go to Rhein-Main (Air Base) to get it,” said Staff Sgt. Adrienne Rogers, 435th CASF deployed pharmacy technician.
Another aspect of decompression is caring for the mental health of patients. Many patients experience culture shock after having lived in dangerous surroundings, with the CASF being the first safe, comfortable place they’ve seen in a while. Mental health nurses and chaplains are available to aid patients and just to talk with them.
“We treat the whole person here,” Major Causer said.
The United Services Organization, located within the facility, provides wounded servicemembers with food, clothing and a relaxing environment.
