Casualty evacuation

CASEVACs by air today are almost exclusively done by helicopter, a practice begun on a small scale toward the end of World War II; before that, STOL aircraft, such as the Fieseler Fi 156 or Piper J-3 were used.It became famous after an article by journalist Peter Arnett described the death of Spencer's successor in command, Major Charles L. Kelly, on 1 July 1964 and his dying words, "When I Have Your Wounded."Peter Dorland and James Nanney wrote in Dust Off: Army Aeromedical Evacuation in Vietnam, "... slightly more a third of the aviators became casualties in their work, and the crew chiefs and medical corpsmen who accompanied them suffered similarly.The danger of their work was further borne out by the high rate of air ambulance loss to hostile fire: 3.3 times that of all other forms of helicopter missions in the Vietnam War.This has, in part, led to a 90.6% casualty survival rate (numbers from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, 2006), compared to 80.9% in World War II.
US Marines transport a non-ambulatory patient via litter , outside of Fallujah, Iraq in 2006
High-angle mountain CASEVAC training, at the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School in Jericho, Vermont
Dust-OffUS MarinespatientlitterFallujah, IraqArmy Mountain Warfare SchoolJericho, Vermontcallsignpatient evacuationcasualtiesWorld War IIFieseler Fi 156Piper J-3medical evacuationMV-22 OspreySH-60 SeahawkCH-46 Sea KnightGeneva Conventionhospital shipwar crime57th Medical DetachmentPeter ArnettCharles L. KellytourniquetQuikClotTactical Combat Casualty CareAeromedical evacuationAir AmbulanceBattlefield medicine