Disaster aeromedical evacuation.

Successful disaster aeromedical evacuation depends on applying the principles learned by moving patients since World War II, culminating in today's global patient movement system. This article describes the role of the Department of Defense patient movement system in providing defense support to civil authorities during the 2008 hurricane season and the international disaster response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Adapting and applying the principles of active partnerships, establishing patient movement requirements, patient preparation, and in-transit visibility have resulted in the successful aeromedical evacuation of over 1,600 patients since the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

Partnered disaster preparedness: lessons learned from international events.

Military, governmental, and civilian agencies routinely respond to disasters around the world, including large-scale mass casualty events such as the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005, Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005, and the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. Potential exists for improved coordination of medical response between civilian and military sectors and for the creation of a planned and practiced interface. Disaster preparedness could be enhanced with more robust disaster education for civilian responders; creation of a database of precredentialed, precertified medical specialists; implementation of a communication bridge; and the establishment of agreements between military and civilian medical/surgical groups in advance of major catastrophic events.