Alaska Air National Guard medevacs critically ill patient

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON — Two Alaska Air National Guard Guardian Angel personnel recovery Airmen lept from a 176th Wing combat search and rescue aircraft into the village of Kotlik to transport a critically ill patient March 22.

According to a recent press release, the rescue mission was prompted by a request from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation to to medevac a patient experiencing internal bleeding out of Kotlik for a higher level of medical care since civilian air ambulances were unable to respond due to poor weather conditions in the area.

The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center sent the request to the 176th Wing search and rescue duty officer, and the SARDO dispatched a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopter and a 211th Rescue Squadron HC-130J Combat King CSAR fixed-wing aircraft carrying Guardian Angel personnel recovery teams comprising combat rescue officers and enlisted pararescuemen.

“Our goal was to get to Kotlik as fast as possible,” Alaska Air National Guard Master Sgt. Arnold Perea, 210th RQS HH-60 special missions aviator stated in the press release. “We had the C-130 go out ahead to do weather reconnaissance and see what the status was over top of Kotlik because we heard there was bad weather there. When they got there, they could see that it was clear enough for them [to jump] since they can get there quite a bit faster than us.”

Maj. James Byrne, 212th RQS combat rescue officer, and Master Sgt. Daniel Lutz, 212th RQS pararescueman, explained that the patient’s condition was extremely urgent and a jump was necessary.

“The patient had significant internal bleeding, she was experiencing low blood pressure and had a rapid pulse,” Lutz stated in the press release. “That pushed us towards launching the Herc faster than we normally would, hoping to get blood onboard sooner rather than later. We retrieved two units of blood from the hospital: one unit on the helo, one unit on the Herc. We stepped out the door with the mindset of jumping to the patient, knowing the helicopter was going to be several hours behind us.”

The patient was ultimately transported to JBER where the patient was handed over to the Anchorage Fire Department for final evacuation to an area hospital.

“We call ourselves the Rescue Triad, but in a lot of missions, one element stands out more than others, and I think this mission is a perfect example of that Rescue Triad working together, each team was completely reliant on the others,” Maj. George Geiges, the 211th RQS combat systems officer on the HC-130 flight deck stated in the press release. “We needed the GAs, the HC-130 and the HH-60 to get this mission done. I think it’s a great example of how that triad works here in Alaska.”

For a more in depth look at the heroic rescue mission, visit www.176wg.ang.af.mil/

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com