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The Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation team from the 59th Medical Wing and Brooke Army Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, came together to turn a critically ill patient with lung failure by using the functions on a specialty bed with staff at the University Medical Center of El Paso, Texas, Oct 23, 2023. The Department of Defense’s only ECMO team possesses the capability for global transports of all service members. Additionally, the team can transport civilian patients through the Secretarial Designee program or with the Secretary of the Air Force’s approval. (Courtesy photo by the medical team)

Feb. 6, 2024

DOD’s first dual-patient ECMO C-17 transport

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas — The Department of Defense’s only Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) team travelled to El Paso, Texas, on Oct. 23, 2023, to support a civilian patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The ECMO team, located at Brooke Army Medical Center possesses the capability for global transports of all service members. Additionally, the team may also transport civilian patients through the Secretarial Designee program or with the Secretary of the Air Force’s approval. Once approval is granted, the medics use any means necessary to quickly reach the patient.

Image of an Airman posing for a photo.

Feb. 7, 2023

From the battlefield to the football field: Air Force surgeon’s skills knows no bounds

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — On January 2nd, when many football fans were watching the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, Lt. Col. Valerie Sams, an Air Force surgeon, was on call at UC Health’s University of Cincinnati Medical Center not knowing what she was about to face.

U.S. Air Force Maj. (Dr.) Dominick Vitale, Brooke Army Medical Center critical care/trauma surgeon, stands inside a C-17 Globemaster III with wife Megan O’Toole and son Antonio Vitale after receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., Dec. 9, 2022. Vitale and members of a Critical Care Air Transport Team were on the first aircraft to land and evacuate the severely injured following the Aug. 26, 2021 suicide bombing near Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan. (DoD courtesy photo)

Jan. 19, 2023

A ‘not-so-routine’ operation

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, (Jan. 19, 2023) — Aug. 26, 2021 was a terrible day of bloodshed and destruction near Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, when a suicide bomber killed an estimated 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members. That same day, shortly after the bombing, U.S. Air Force Maj. (Dr.) Dominick Vitale, Brooke Army Medical Center critical care/trauma surgeon, and the remaining members of the Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT) were on the first aircraft to land and evacuate the severely injured to Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Vitale and the entire crew, dubbed ‘MOOSE 98,’ received the Distinguished Flying Cross with “C” device for their actions during a ‘not-so-routine’ operation.

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