Pre-Evacuation Procedures, Communication, and Documentation

What to remember

• Keep talking: reassure the casualty, and tell the tactical leader the casualty status, evacuation needs and treatment.CLS M19 Slides, PDF p.6
• A MEDEVAC request has 9 lines, but lines 1 to 5 are the ones needed to launch an asset: pickup grid, your frequency and call sign, patients by precedence, special equipment, and litter or ambulatory count.CLS M19 Slides, PDF p.10
• Lines 6 to 9 cover pickup site security, how you mark the site, patient nationality and status, and CBRN contamination.CLS M19 Slides, PDF p.11
• Precedence runs Urgent, Urgent Surgical, Priority, Routine, Convenience; do not over-categorize, so the casualties in greatest need are evacuated first.CLS M19 Slides, PDF p.14
• A MIST report gives Mechanism of injury, Injuries, Symptoms and Treatment.CLS M19 Slides, PDF p.7
• Write assessment findings, aid given and changes in status on the DD Form 1380 (the MIST report is built from it), and attach it to the casualty somewhere easy to see, like the wrist or a belt loop.CLS M19 Slides, PDF p.15

Where people go wrong

• Over-categorizing: calling an injury more severe than it is, which can delay evacuation of those in greatest need.CLS M19 Slides, PDF p.14
• Starting to transmit before you have gathered all the information.CLS M19 Slides, PDF p.9
• Leaving lines 1 to 5 out of the initial contact.CLS M19 Skill Instructions, PDF p.4
• Turning off the radio after transmitting instead of listening for the evacuation unit.CLS M19 Skill Instructions, PDF p.5

Check yourself

Questions on this module, each with the reason and the slide it came from.