Keesler medical teams providing Haitian victim care Published Feb. 8, 2010 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AFB, Miss. -- Two medical teams from the 81st Medical Group are providing vital care to Haiti earthquake victims who are airlifted to hospitals in Florida. Two, three-person Critical Care Air Transport Teams from the 81st Medical Operations Squadron at Keesler AFB, Miss., are bringing aid to the earthquake survivors. The Team members include Maj. (Dr.) Stephen Boskovich and Capt. (Dr.) Kirk Hinkley, emergency medicine physicians; Capts. John Michael Fowler and Claudia Clark, critical care nurses; and Tech. Sgt. Rich Pakula, and Staff Sgt. Emmanuel Coley, respiratory therapists. Major Boskovich said their teams have treated "all ages of victims," from children to adults. Major Boskovich said some victims, are very critical and on ventilators, and some have a high risk of deterioration during their aeromedical evacuation. "On my last flight, all three of my patients were children ages 4-14," he said The major said their highest tempo missions were daily to Haiti, "with as many litter patients as we could fit on the plane (20-30), and four to five critical patients attended by the CCATT team." He went on to say that their teams are staying in Tampa and are operating out of MacDill AFB Florida. "We would pick up the patients in Haiti and fly them back to the United States, distributing them to hospitals throughout Florida (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa) in coordination with Florida emergency medical services," Major Boskovich said. "It's about a three-hour flight to Haiti on a C-130. We have been flying into Port au Prince Airport and pick up patients from the mobile aeromedical staging facility set up just off the flight line." Major Boskovich also noted that most of the wounds the teams have seen are the result of crush injuries: skull and extremity fractures, head injuries, amputations and burns. "We've also encountered medical emergencies like sepsis," he said, "I had an actual case of tetanus, which is very rare in the U.S. because of our good vaccination policies."