When U.S. service members are critically ill or severely injured, it is the mission of Critical Care Air Transport Teams to get them aboard aircraft and move them thousands of miles while delivering a high level of medical care in flight to return them home for full-time care.
A CCATT is a highly specialized and uniquely skilled three-person medical team that augments standard aeromedical evacuation crew members, and turns an aircraft into a flying intensive care unit.
- A physician who specializes in an area of critical care or emergency medicine
- A critical care nurse
- A respiratory therapist
CCATTs supplement standard aeromedical evacuation aircrew when critically ill or injured patients require continuous monitoring, stabilization, or complex care while in-transit to a medical treatment facility - usually to get a higher level of medical care.
During the Vietnam War, it typically took about a month for wounded troops to reach treatment facilities in the United States. Today, the U.S. Air Force’s CCATT capability allows service members to be transported from the point of injury to a stateside hospital in less than three days.
Air Mobility Command is responsible for the CCATT mission.
- CCATT members are experienced in the care of critically ill or injured patients with multisystem trauma, head injuries, shock, burns, respiratory failure, multiple organ failure, and other life-threatening complications.
- Some of the most common procedures and medications CCATT members administer in-flight include anti-blood clot medications, painkillers, and providing oxygen and ventilation.
- The typical patient load for a standard CCATT is up to three critical patients, or up to six stabilized patients.
An aircraft in flight is not an ideal environment to deliver care. CCATT crew members learn how to treat patients aboard an aircraft with limited resources and support, far different from a fully staffed and stocked hospital.
- CCAT teams adapt to in-flight challenges, such as turbulence, which can dislodge equipment, and changes in temperatures and air pressure, which can affect wounds and bandages.
- CCAT teams adjust to space limitations, as teams and patients share space with other passengers or cargo.
- CCAT teams are limited to the resources and equipment brought on the mission, and do not have access to support services, such as blood banks and labs they are accustomed to in a treatment facility.
- CCAT teams overcome communication challenges, as most military aircraft are loud and have less light, making it more challenging to monitor and talk to patients and crew members.
CCATT training begins at the 711th Human Performance Wing, with advanced training at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center through the Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills program, which allows members to adapt their critical care skills to these surroundings.