OCTOBER 3, 2024 —— “I’d do one of these missions every day if I could,” stated Chief Warrant Officer 3 David Bragg, pilot and air-mission commander.
On September 29, 2024, just days after Hurricane Helene made landfall, Bragg along with the rest of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd General Support Aviation Regiment (2-3 GSAB), 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, received a 9-line medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) for the transfer of six patients and two medical personnel from Eisenhower Army Medical Center (EAMC), Fort Gordon, Ga., to Winn Army Community Hospital (WACH), Fort Stewart, Ga.
Hurricane Helene produced powerful winds that toppled trees, snapped powerlines, and created numerous impassable roads. Extended power outages and critical water shortages at Eisenhower forced the need for evacuation. Civilian helicopters are typically utilized ,however, in this situation EAMC was inundated with the amount of aeromedical evacuation requests. In most cases, these civilian aircraft can only carry one patient at a time along with its crew.
“We don’t get a whole lot of these kind of patient transfers from military installation to military installation mainly because [Army hospitals] have civilian helicopters spun up everyday,” Bragg remarked.
Ground transport would also not be possible due to disruption by the hurricane and the need for life-saving continual care and the high volume of supplemental oxygen necessary for the three-hour ground transport while state emergency medical service’s oxygen capacity was unavailable.
“The best part of the mission was the willingness of the crews to drop everything that they were doing,” Bragg stated. “We got a call and everybody was ready to go saying, ‘hey I can be there in 30 minutes, I could be there in an hour,’ it was good, I felt a lot of pride in the team, that was what made me most proud of my job.”
At 12:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) Charlie Company, 2-3 GSAB, mobilized two HH-60 Black Hawk Crews.
Capt. Mathew Simmons aeromedical physician assistant was on the lead aircraft with two patients and another flight medic taking care of a post-surgical patient and a heart failure patient enroute back to Winn Army Hospital from Eisenhower. “Weather was perfect on the way there and on the way back; air crews did a wonderful job keeping us out of anything that would have put the patients in any discomfort. It was a smooth ride there and a smooth ride back,” said Simmons.
All pilots ensured mission success through weather validation, performance planning, flight route determination, landing zone oversight and mission execution. The medical teams coordinated with EAMC to gather patient information and ensure proper equipment was in place for transport. Crew chiefs and the maintenance support team moved the aircraft from hangars and completed all necessary pre-flight checks following the hurricane.
“It was a good feeling knowing that we were doing a real-world mission,” Simmons said, “helping those who were in need when they didn’t have power or water, especially being elderly veterans, we are taking care of them and making sure that they have a better quality of life and better access to care.”
By 5:10 p.m. EST, both crews departed Wright Army Airfield and arrived at Eisenhower by 6:05 p.m. Medical personnel received updated patient reports and organized the patient load for each aircraft. Crew One took off from EAMC at 7:24 p.m. and arrived at Winn by 8:21 p.m., while Crew Two departed EAMC at 8:22 p.m. and arrived to WACH by 9:15 p.m. From mission reception to completion, the aeromedical evacuation was executed in under nine hours.
“Transition times were great, flight medics and the air crews worked perfectly together to make sure that everything was seamless and that the patients had the quickest, best possible care,” Simmons said.
The success of the mission was attributed to the professionalism of both MEDEVAC crews and the essential support teams. Capt. Robbie Phillips’ coordination between the helicopter crews, hospitals, and ground transport was vital to the operation’s success. Sgt. Jean Deya Flores single-handedly established 2-3 GSAB flight operations, conducted battle-tracking and ensured the safety of the mission. Staff Sgt. Sikes and his maintenance team facilitated safe aircraft movement and pre-flight readiness.
As Bragg reflected back on the mission he said, “I can’t really put into words how it feels to save somebody else’s life, understanding that if you don’t get this patient from here to there, they may not make it.”
Crew One
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Mills, pilot-in-command
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Steve Goodman, pilot
Sgt. 1st Class Chris Carney, flight paramedic
Spc. Robert Knick, crew chief
Capt. Mathew Simmons, aeromedical physician assistant
Crew Two
Chief Warrant Officer 3 David Bragg, pilot-in-command
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Garrett Dailey, pilot
Sgt. 1st Class Logan Riley, flight paramedic
Sgt. 1st Class James Huntsbery, flight paramedic
Spc. Rocky Dickenson, crew chief
Story by Staff Sgt. Dean Johnson
3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division