China's first military air ambulance debuts

BEIJING, Aug. 22 (ChinaMil) --The Military Transportation Institute under the Logistics Support Department of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) completed the final month-long environmental qualification test on China's first air ambulance jointly developed through military-civilian cooperation on August 19.

As it is increasingly normalized for the PLA troops to carry out cross-border military operations, such as naval escort mission in the Gulf of Aden, international peacekeeping and joint military exercises, it has been an irresistible trend that the PLA should rely on civilian aviation rescue institutions to provide direct wounded evacuation and transfer service and on this basis establish the emergency aviation transport and transfer mechanism for the sick and wounded, said an official with the Transportation Bureau of the Logistics Support Department under the CMC.

The Transportation Bureau signed a cooperation agreement with the Emergency Treatment Center of the Red Cross Society of China, Beijing Branch in June 2016 on using specialized medical rescue aircraft to implement transportation and transfer of the sick and wounded of the PLA.

A special medical aircraft dispatched by the Transportation Bureau successfully brought two seriously injured members of the Chinese peacekeeping force to South Sudan back to China after an 18-hour continuous flight on July 17, 2016.

It was the first wounded soldiers' cross-border evacuation and transfer operation jointly carried out by the military and civilian medical departments including the Health Bureau of the Logistics Support Department under the CMC, the PLA General Hospital and the Emergency Treatment Center of the Red Cross Society of China, Beijing Branch after the functioning of the cooperation agreement.

The Transportation Bureau will carry out in-depth feasibility studies on incorporating the specialized air ambulance into the strategic projection reserve force system of the PLA.

Friday, October 15, 2010

First Y-8 MedEvac enters service.

As a lesson learned from the recent earthquakes and other natural disasters, the PLAAF is commissioning a new fleet of Y-8C based MedEvac. A step that has been long overdue.

Perhaps the PLAAF can import some the "approved" C-130s and to model them after the USAF's Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, such as the 379th EAES.

Here are some PR write up from the PLA Daily:

PLA aviation medical rescue system moves one important step forward

(Source: PLA Daily) 2010-10-14

　 　A joint exercise was staged heatedly in an area in northwest China recently. The reporters saw on the site that a batch of the serious “wounded” were transferred to a transport aircraft with the logo of the Red Cross on its tail. According to the head of the Health Department of the Logistics Department of the Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), this is PLA’s first medical aircraft for transportation and evacuation. Its service will gain precious time for saving life of the wounded on battlefield.

　　Following the medical workers to enter the cabin of the medical aircraft, the reporters found that the cabin was divided into ICU area and medical evacuation area, rows of specially-made multi-level sickbeds were installed, the medical workers fastened the “wounded” onto the sickbeds after medical check and classification and then they carried out such rescue actions as infusion, oxygen inhalation and vital sign monitoring. Several minutes later, the medical aircraft took off to evacuate the wounded.

　　For its advantages in rapid reaction, rapid rescue and little restriction from operational area, the aviation medical rescue has become a main means for emergent medical rescue in various countries of the world. The developed countries and their militaries have already established their complete aviation medical rescue systems. The PLA modified a type of transport aircraft of its Air Force into the medical aircraft with 5 to 7 medical workers on board. It can satisfy the consecutive medical monitoring and emergent treatment for 2 seriously wounded patients and accommodate 39 wounded on stretchers and 15 wounded on seats for medical evacuation.

　　The experts assessed that this medical aircraft could basically meet the demand of long-distance air transportation and medical rescue for batches of the wounded, symbolizing an important step forward of the PLA in building its aviation medical rescue system.

　　By Liu Fazhong and Zhu Haoping

Editor:Zhang Qingxia