Press Release
☷USAISR s Burn Flight Team sets new record with Australia mission
U.S. Army ( By Press Release office)
Jan 21,2024
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The team of critical care , respiratory , and renal specialists flew from Joint Base San Antonio to Melbourne , Australia , and back in October 2023 to bring back a Service Member who was injured in an aircraft accident . They posed next to their C - 17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft after completing their record - breaking mission . Lt . Col . Alicia Williams , M . D . , director of the U . S . Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Flight Team , prepared medical equipment in the tight space of a C - 17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft during the team ' s record - breaking flight . Michael Mueller , RN , a staff nurse in the U . S . Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn ICU and a member of the USAISR Burn Flight Team , readied an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine before the team ' s record - breaking flight . The U . S . Army Medical Research and Development Command ' s Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center ' s Burn Flight Team is accustomed to flying long distances to help Service Members with thermal injuries . However , their recent trip to and from Australia proved to be a unique challenge that tested their skills and endurance . The objective of the five - day mission was to bring back a Service Member who had been injured in an aircraft accident and developed an invasive fungal infection on his face and leg . This allowed him to receive surgical treatment at the USAISR Burn Center in Texas . The team had to travel a total of 14 , 000 miles , with stopovers in Hawaii for fuel and supplies . This put their skills and motto , "Anytime , Anywhere , " to the test . The Burn Flight Team consists of nurses , respiratory therapists , and physicians who specialize in burn treatment . They have all completed the U . S . Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine ' s Critical Care Air Transport Team course and work full - time in the Burn Center ' s intensive care unit . Since they are always on call , it is not uncommon for a team member to board a plane right after completing a 12 - hour shift . The Burn Flight Team got word about the injured Service Member in Australia shortly after the accident . Once he arrived at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne , he stayed stable with the help of an artificial lung and continuous renal replacement therapy . The team kept an eye on him for a few weeks , but then the hospital reported that he had a rare fungal infection that was spreading quickly . That ' s when the team sprang into action to bring him back home for surgery . Capt . Matthew Wood , the team ' s ECMO transport coordinator , says they had to bring a bigger team and more equipment than usual because of the patient ' s condition . Instead of their usual travel arrangements , they had to rely on the Air Force for transportation . The team left from Kelly Field and landed in Hawaii 20 hours later . While some of the team went to get supplies , Wood handled the logistics for their arrival in Melbourne . Normally , they would fly to a military base , but this time they had to arrange transportation in a civilian city . They had to make a pit stop in Brisbane to refuel before finally reaching Melbourne . Once they arrived , the medical team met with the hospital staff who had been caring for the injured Service Member . Lt . Col . Alicia Williams , the Burn Flight Team ' s director , remembers how helpful and supportive the hospital staff were . “They were very professional and very accommodating . There were many moments when things could have gone badly for him , but different teams came together and worked together to save his life . Alfred even arranged for us to move patients . They were a great asset . " Fully briefed on the patient ' s condition and provided with a night ' s rest after the grueling flight , the care team returned to the aircraft with the wounded serviceman and his family , who had flown to Australia to provide support during his treatment . The long flight back to Hawaii was uneventful , just minutes before landing in Jicama . “We were strapped into our seats when the ECMO machine went off three minutes before landing , ” said Michael Mueller , RN , a staff nurse on the burn flight team . Typically , a clot in an ECMO machine can be easily corrected before it can harm a patient by performing what medical professionals call a circuit exchange , which involves switching the patient to a second ECMO machine . In fact , the team had a reserve car for precisely this purpose . However , if no one is able to complete the pattern change—say , because they need to be strapped in for landing—the situation can quickly become dicey . Instead of aborting the landing and changing the pattern mid - air , the team assessed the situation and decided to continue with the landing as it would have allowed them to get the patient to the hospital much sooner . As the plane descended , Williams and Mueller updated the patient ' s family about the ECMO machine replacement , while Wood and another team member , U . S . Air Force Capt . Sarah Yuhasz , an ECMO nurse and 2023 Henry M . Jackson Foundation recipient . recipient of the San Antonio Military Medical Hero Award for achievements in military medicine , kept a close eye on the wayward ECMO machine . After landing , as the plane taxied onto the ramp , Wood and Juhasz unbuckled , stood up and successfully changed the pattern . “Sarah was holding the ECMO machine—bananas , ” Williams recalls . “I mean , she could have accidentally hit herself in the face with it!” “Every flight you try to think of the worst possible scenario and plan ahead for it in your head , but I don’t think we’ve ever thought about having to turn off the ECMO machine during landing , ” Mueller adds . “The patient was very stable , which was amazing because when things like this happen , you get an adrenaline rush and you get a little nervous . This is something of an emergency because if the machine is left in the non - operating position , the patient could fall very quickly . But I just kept looking at the vital signs and telling Captain Wood , “You have time . ” Are you okay . Everything is fine , he is stable . " Just trying to relieve them of some extra stress . Captain Wood and Captain Juhasz did an amazing job . "After the excitement was over , I went to his dad - he had been able to see what was happening from where he was sitting - and I just told him , ' Hey , I just want you to know he ' s OK . I know it looks a little hectic in there , but it ' s stable and everything looks good . ' ” “Replacing a lung bypass machine in the back of the plane is not an everyday thing , ” adds Wood . “It is perhaps the worst possible time for this machine to need attention . "It was a very tense moment , but everyone handled it and implemented it very well . " Fortunately , the rest of the trip passed without drama and after landing at JBSA , the patient was admitted to the Burn Center , where Williams performed a series of intensive surgical treatments , to remove the fungal infection . The military member is currently being treated at a university hospital and is expected to recover . The Australian stint was not the longest in the team ' s history; In 2013 , a C - 17 for the Burn Flight Team flew 9 , 850 miles nonstop from JBSA to Singapore to transport a burn patient . However , it was the team ' s longest mission , involving a combined team of combustion and ECMO specialists . It was also the team ' s first in - flight ECMO route change . And for some team members , it was the longest mission of their careers – at least so far . “This is the epitome of military medicine , ” says Wood of the Burn Flight Team . “We will do literally everything we can to bring active duty military members home . This is why we serve in military medicine; This is what we train for and what we are ready for . And beyond that , being part of a team that carried out this double record - breaking medical evacuation is simply remarkable . ”
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