4410 OPERATIONAL SUPPORT WING (P) CONTINGENCY HISTORICAL

File: aabhf_06.txt
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    VRD [vacuum-tube relay driver] ventilators out. They are a
    piece of junk. Forget the portable liquid oxygen. When you
    are at a remote site, it is very hard to get those filled,
    and when they go below 3 liters, they have to go to Germany
    and be purged. It is a constant headache for us. The H-
    tanks and the E-oxygen tanks work very well. I suggest
    eight H-tanks with stands and four E-tanks. Being smaller,
    they could get on a helicopter and ambulance to take a
    patient somewhere else. Absolutely essential is the cardiac
    monitor with a defibrillator, suggesting the Life Pack 5.
    Equipment shortages that are really important to have in a
    MASF are macrodrip IV administration sets, PRN or heplock
    adapters, 1-inch silk tape, pleurevacs, pulse oximeters,-
    cast cutters, absolutely cast cutters and spreaders. We
    kept having to borrow our cast cutters from the ASF. We
    would like to have trauma kits, trauma supplies, including a
    backboard, laryngoscope, C-collars, ACLS [Advanced Cardiac
    Life Support System] drugs; or just put everything in or
    purchase a SPARK [Systemic Pulmono/Cardiac Anaphylaxis
    Resuscitation Kit] kit; MAS trousers and arm air splints.
    We really need these things in the MASF.

    S: Without this equipment and air personnel, did you provide
    less than adequate care for your patients?

    M: No. I think we were able to do it, but that was because we
    were right next to the medical clearing platoon. They had
    an ATLS [Advanced Trauma Life Support System] tent; they had
    trauma surgeons, and when we needed something, they would
    give it to us. I'm not sure that it would work as well
    other places. Maybe it would work even better, but we felt
    [this was] an ideal situation because the physicians were
    there. That was just a tremendous help.