Background

Reducing the time to required medical or surgical interventions prevents death in potentially survivable illness, injuries and wounds. When evacuation times are extended, en route care (ERC) capability must be adequately expanded to mitigate the delay. In January 2010, the Joint Force Health Protection Joint Patient Movement Report stated “the current success of the medical community is colored by the valiant ability to overcome deficiencies through ‘just-in-time workarounds;’ many systemic shortfalls are resolved and become transparent to patient outcomes. However, future operations may not tolerate current deficiencies.” 24

- Patient packaging is highly dependent upon the transportation or evacuation platform that is available
- If possible, rehearse patient packaging internally and with the external resources.
- Train with all possible assets, familiarizing them with standard operating procedures
- Ensure the patient is stable before initiating a critical patient transfer