Team Travis sends support to Southern California fires

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TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 60th Medical Group at David Grant USAF Medical Center here has deployed a three-person Critical Care Air Transportation Team, a flying intensive care unit, to support firefighting operations in Southern California.

Additionally, the National Disaster Medical System has placed DGMC on standby status as a patient receiving and distribution center for the Northern California area, should the need arise. DGMC fulfills a key role in the National Response Plan as the Sacramento region's Federal Coordinating Center for the NDMS.

CCATTs are directly responsible for dramatically reducing military and civilian fatalities through swift air transport and advance life-saving medical skills. A typical CCATT is composed of three individuals: a physician, normally designated as the team leader who has a background in critical care specialties such as cardiology, pulmonology, emergency medicine, internal medicine or general surgery; a critical care nurse, and a cardiopulmonary technologist/respiratory therapist. Everyone on the team plays a vital role in patient care. 

DGMC's CCATT program was established in August 1998 after a pilot program was formally approved and adopted by the Air Force Aeromedical Evacuation System. Since then, CCATTs have been established throughout the Total Force. 

Today, DGMC has approximately seven CCATT teams and the second-largest CCATT platform in the Air Force for mobility purposes. They have been involved in medical rescue and transport of multiple combat/blast injured patients during Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Noble Eagle and the World Trade Center attack in September 2001.

DGMC is the second largest inpatient Military Treatment Facility in the United States Air Force, providing a full spectrum of care to 81,991 eligible beneficiaries, and 400,000 Veterans Administration's Northern California Health Care System eligible population. It currently operates with an annual budget of $80 million and 2,428 active duty, civilian, contractor and volunteer staff members.

Because it is a military medical center, 60th Medical Group personnel are "America's First Choice" as the West Coast staging platform for expeditionary medical missions for both combat support and humanitarian missions from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Indonesian Tsunami, Hurricane Rita, and now, Southern California relief efforts.

DGMC personnel are currently providing the lead support to the Craig Joint Theater Hospital in Bagram, Afghanistan. DGMC fields more than 1,500 mobility positions with more than 700 personnel, holding 150 different Air Force Specialty Codes, filling primary deployment roles on 45 different standard Unit Type Codes. The current steady state has approximately 150 medical personnel deployed in support of Aerospace Expeditionary Force rotations and humanitarian missions "anytime, anywhere" -- while ensuring world-class medical care and service to its customers at home.