Nov. 2, 2020 Patriot Express travel at BWI, SEATAC to require on-site, rapid COVID-19 testing To mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and to meet long-standing commitments to U.S. allies and partners, the Department of Defense began rapid, on-site COVID-19 testing for passengers departing Baltimore Washington International Airport and Seattle Tacoma Airport aboard Patriot Express flights for
Oct. 22, 2020 Travis AFB hosts clinical research for NASA’s newly developed medical technology The E-Nose Breathanalyzer, under development at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, will have the capability of analyzing compounds found within a person’s breath to diagnose a battery of illnesses and abnormalities including respiratory illnesses, infectious diseases and cardiovascular
Oct. 1, 2020 Air Force lab surpasses 130K COVID-19 tests in 6 months This number equates to about 17% of all samples of COVID-19 that have been tested across the Department of Defense. And as the demand fluctuated and continues, laboratory personnel remain agile.
Sept. 17, 2020 Air Force improves lactation support for nursing mothers The updated policy, which is effective immediately, increases flexibility with lactation breaks and also mandates access to a refrigerator for the purpose of storing human milk.
Aug. 20, 2020 AFMC releases new PTL Guide The guide is designed to provide PTLs with basic fitness principles, examples for leading safe and effective exercise sessions and the ability to recognize potentially unsafe exercise programs.
July 31, 2020 Experiment enhances C-130’s competitive edge against CBRN threat The vapor purge tests look to determine how long it takes for a chemical contaminant, such as tear gas, to purge itself from an aircraft as well as potential best practices to reduce the amount of chemical particles in the air in the most efficient way possible.
July 29, 2020 Air Force removes administrative burden, allows pregnant and postpartum women to attend PME Pregnant and postpartum members may now attend professional military education without an exception to policy, and are also exempt from the requirement to have a passing fitness assessment prior to attending.Previous policy prevented pregnant women and women within their one-year postpartum
July 28, 2020 Reserve, Guard train for aeromedical evacuation operations Reservists from the 36th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and Mississippi Air National Guardsmen from the 183rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron collaborated for a three-day training event to work as one team, focused on patient care and handling, during a simulated air evacuation of injured service
July 16, 2020 KC-46 completes its first aeromedical evacuation mission Over the course of six flights and 17 hours, the mission, which originated at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, transited five patients and two attendees to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia; Patrick Air Force Base, Florida; and Travis AFB, California. The mission was evaluated by the Air Force Testing
July 6, 2020 NPC completes first operational patient movement The NPC is the latest isolated containment chamber developed to transport individuals with infectious diseases, like the novel coronavirus. This operation brings the total number of patients retrieved by the mobility Air Force using an isolation containment chamber to more than 100 across 18
June 29, 2020 Negatively pressurized conexes ready to save lives Air Mobility Command and Air Force Materiel Command leaders joined forces early April to invite creative materiel and non-materiel solutions to address a joint urgent operational need to move large numbers of COVID-19 patients should the need for that capability arise.
May 11, 2020 A passion for helping and leading: Nurse leads Air Force Medical Service A profession that faces disease and trauma and requires long hours on their feet may deter some, but for nurses, this profession was chosen to serve and ensure the health of those who live in their communities.
April 24, 2020 AFLCMC-led team delivers isolation container prototype for testing Rapidly developed in response to the United States Transportation Command's Joint Urgent Operational Need, the Negatively Pressurized Conex, or NPC, is designed to fit inside of a C-17 Globemaster III, and enable the safe transport of as many as 28 patients both ambulatory and litter, and teams of
April 23, 2020 Operational testers unite in solution for transporting COVID-19 patients With the urgent need to transport as many as 4,000 American citizens from overseas per month, the Portable Bio-Chemical Module, or PBCM, is one of several options the Air Force is considering to transport infectious patients.
April 13, 2020 AMC Airmen conduct historic first aeromedical evacuation mission using Transport Isolation System The aeromedical evacuation mission, REACH 725, marked the first operational use of the TIS since its development during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the first movement of COVID-19 positive patients aboard U.S. Air Force aircraft.
April 7, 2020 Air Force releases guidance on use of cloth face covers To the extent practical, without significantly impacting mission, all individuals on Department of the Air Force property, installations and facilities are required to wear cloth face coverings when they cannot maintain six feet of physical distance in public areas or work centers.
April 6, 2020 Air Force postpones boards due to COVID-19 restrictions The Air Force is postponing promotion boards for the CY20B Colonel Biomedical Sciences Corps and Chaplain; CY20C Lieutenant Colonel Chaplain and Nurse Corps; and CY20B Chaplain Central Selection Boards, originally scheduled to convene June 8.
April 6, 2020 Air Force Reserve mobilizes medics to New York for COVID-19 response Air Force Reserve Command units mobilized more than 40 doctors, more than 70 nurses and approximately 13 respiratory technicians who departed their home stations for JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst for further inprocessing with the U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Forces Land Component Command, based out of
March 24, 2020 Guard helps medical professionals combat COVID-19 From staffing informational phone banks to administering tests for COVID-19, many of the more than 9,000 National Guard members on duty in response to COVID-19 are assisting state and local medical professionals.
March 24, 2020 USAFE supports Italy COVID-19 response In response to the ongoing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, an 86th Airlift Wing C-130J Super Hercules out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, transported an En-Route Patient Staging System to Aviano Air Base, Italy, for delivery to the Italian Ministry of Defense.