109th Aeromeds train aloft

Senior Airman Michael Hemmingson receives training on the use of the oxygen mask used during a loss of pressure aboard a C-130 Hercules from Master Sgt. Michael Grandlund. During this routine training flight over northern Minnesota August 11, 2009 members of the 109th AES conducted an intense series of training, preparing members for later deployments where skills learned will be used routinely in real world situations under adverse conditions. A five-person aeromedical evacuation team usually consists of a medical crew director, a flight nurse, a charge medical technician, and two aeromedical evacuation technicians. The team supports the assigned physician and flight nurse who complete the critical care air transport team. The inventory often includes everything from high-tech monitors, oxygen tanks and regulators to defibrillators- those high-voltage paddles doctors use in emergencies to restore or regulate a patient's heart rhythm.