ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. –
An officer assigned to the 775th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Detachment 1, here, acts as a nurse liaison, working behind the scenes to organize transportation of wounded servicemembers to military hospitals throughout the United States.
When you think of the country's wounded servicemembers who are returning home to the United States you think of the planes, the pilots, and medical staff onboard to make these critical missions a success. But often we forget that behind the scenes at Andrews there are people who work to get the patients where they need to go.
One such person who works behind the scenes is Lt. Col. Diana Cooper, liaison nurse officer for the National Capital Area. As a member of the 775th, Colonel Cooper is part of a network of medical professionals who care for fellow servicemembers as they are transported to medical facilities near their home or permanent duty station. The 775th is aligned under the 375th Operations Group and is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., with Detachment 1 at Andrews and Detachment 2 at Travis AFB, Calif.
"I work with Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the National Navy Medical Center at Bethesda and the Aeromedical Staging Facility here at Andrews," said Colonel Cooper. "Our common goal is for safe and efficient patient transport through the air evacuation system. My contribution, to that end, is ensuring the patients are prepared properly for flight on air evacuation out of Andrews. That can be accomplished several different ways-some of which are direct patient care, education, effective communication or operational changes." Colonel Cooper's primary function as a liaison nurse officer "is to work with user services for aeroevac of patients. My job was created as a result of a rising trend in patient preparation safety issues," said Colonel Cooper.
Colonel Cooper's role as a facilitator and communicator among the services allows her to meet and interact with service members from all branches several times per week. She notes that on these occasions, most small issues can be identified and resolved before they become big issues. "If patients arrive at the ASF from any facility and they do not have the appropriate supplies, equipment, paperwork, medication, documentation or a condition that potentially prohibits them from flying, it can negatively impact the entire mission," said Colonel Cooper. The service branches meet bi-monthly at the National Capital air medical evacuation working group forum. At these meetings they discuss any issues affecting air medical evacuation patients.
Colonel Cooper notes that during her time here at Andrews, she has seen "a smoother transition of patients from all services through the ASF. If there is improved patient preparation, the air medical evacuation crews on the planes can better care for their patients. Communication among the services has improved - leading to a more cooperative and productive working relationship."
Colonel Cooper estimates that she has personally interacted with more than 1,000 patients and assisted with their flight preparation - all of whom have stories, some, to share.
One of the more memorable moments Colonel Cooper remembers, occurred recently. "Just last week a patient was brought in from Bethesda. He had sustained a gunshot wound in the head about five weeks before and his chances of surviving were minimal. His wife just delivered their first child four days before and when I first introduced myself to her, she was smiling. I asked her how she was doing and her response was, "My husband and I just had a healthy baby four days ago and my husband is not only alive, but was with me and talking to me when the baby was born - we are all doing fine."
However, Colonel Cooper notes that not all of the more memorable moments have been happy ones - and she shared one such moment. "One Army soldier was telling me the story of what happened to him just four days earlier. He was in a fire fight and just watched several of his men get killed in an explosion. He was wounded and still taking fire from the enemy. The medic called out to him and said he was coming to help him. He had told the medic to stay put-that it was too dangerous. The medic came to his aid anyway. There was another explosion and the medic was killed. We both hugged each other and cried."
One of the challenges - transparent to most on the outside, is patient care after arriving at Andrews. "Everyone wants to greet the sick and wounded when they first come into Andrews, but who is there when they continue on their journey the next day. When these Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines leave Andrews, they are often going to other health care facilities - hopefully closer to their home," said Colonel Cooper. "Each and every patient needs to be carefully evaluated for any changes that may have occurred before we can send them out the door to a medical evacuation configured C-130, C-17 or KC-135."
The transportation process is a long journey ranging from hours to days from location to location; and Andrews is not the end of the line, said Colonel Cooper. It's just one stop along the road to recovery.