Flying Hospitals

It is a 21-day muleback trip from Buna or Lae to the base hospital at Port Moresby. But Army hospital planes made it in 45 minutes, evacuated 17,000 men during the recent campaign. Since their organization last December,* the Air Forces' Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadrons have moved in New Guinea and Tunisia, or lugged to the U.S. from the Southwest Pacific, Alaska, Africa or India, or shuttled around the U.S. 50,000 ill and wounded men. Only two deaths have occurred in flight. Creator of the system: the A.A.F.'s air surgeon, Brigadier General David N. W. Grant.

Into Danger. Flying hospital personnel, including doctors, enlisted men and nurses are trained at Bowman Field, Ky. But some nurses have made successful flights before going to school to learn how. Nurse Elsie S. Ott got the Air Medal for her pioneering trip from India to the U.S. (her first time in the air) bringing five seriously ill patients. She went to school afterwards.

For long-distance homing flights (in Air Transport Command planes) a wounded man has only a No. 3 priority. But once he is aboard a plane, his priority is No. 1. In actual battle areas the planes used are the big Army transports, C-46s and C-47s. Sometimes the planes do hospital work both ways--U.S. transports took a 750-bed hospital from Port Moresby to Buna--but usually, on their trips toward the battle line, they carry fighting men and materiel, therefore cannot show the Red Cross.

A plane may release a platoon of paratroopers, then circle back to land a little behind the lines and take on 18 to 24 wounded men. Conversion is simple: the evacuation team (a nurse and an enlisted man) fold back the seats and fish up webbing from below the floor boards to support litters. The only other special equipment is a medical supply kit.

Out of Horror. The most seriously wounded are carried up forward for easiest riding. The nurse may consult with the pilot on special flight instructions (in case of a lung injury, she might ask him to stay below 10,000 feet). At first some Army doctors thought that the flying of lung, brain and abdominal cases would be dangerous. But all types of wounded men have since been carried without harm.

The Army believes in flying nurses, not only for their special training but also for their morale value. The Navy staffs its hospital planes with doctors and enlisted men only. At Guadalcanal the Navy found that wounded marines got a sufficient morale boost from the simple fact that in an hour or so they were whisked from battle to quiet.

*The Army Air Forces evacuated thousands of British soldiers in Libya, but had no special organization for the purpose.

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