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315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron: Ready for Hurricane Dean at a Moments Notice

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeff Kelly
  • 315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
CHARLESTON AFB, S.C. --  When the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is called upon for help, there is never a doubt that they will be ready. Seventeen Reservists from the 315th AES answered the call on Sunday and were deployed to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to stand at the ready for looming evacuations caused by Hurricane Dean. 

The 17 Reservists, carrying more than 600 pounds of medical and life support equipment, deployed literally at a moments notice, with less than four hours elapsing between their times of notification to their time of take-off. The 315th AES were the first to be deployed to Texas, but were quickly joined by AES personnel from Pope AFB, N.C., Travis AFB, CA, and March AFB, CA. 

"There was no lack of people dropping whatever was going on in their own lives in order to do this," said Captain Randy Wyatt, a 315th AES medical service corps officer and a member of the deployed aeromedical evacuation operations team. 

With the passing of Tropical Storm Erin this week, forecasters are now focused on Hurricane Dean, still churning in the Caribbean. Dean is the first hurricane of the 2007 season, and promises to be a big one. 

"Even though it is a major Category 4 hurricane now, it is projected to become a Category 5 storm before it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula early Tuesday morning," said Master Sergeant Tom Crawford, lead meteorologist for ABC news 4, and Reservist with the 315th Airlift Wing public affairs office. "The danger is coming from the storm surge associated with this storm and of course the high winds." 

A hurricane is considered a Category 5 storm when sustained winds reach 155 mph. 

The Yucatan Peninsula and Islands located in the Gulf of Mexico are at the greatest risk from Dean if it maintains its current course, but with Texas receiving such a large amount of rain from Tropical Storm Erin this week, the outer bands of Dean could produce enough rain to cause additional disastrous flooding in that state. 

The deployed members of the 315th AES are staged in Texas for just that reason. They could be asked to evacuate people from anywhere in Dean's path of destruction. 

"This is simply what we do, this is what we train for," said Major Sunny Gates, 315th AES operations officer. "We are used to going into areas where we don't know what we are going to get, but our folks are so well trained they will take folks on board, assess people's conditions and handle anything that comes their way. We are adaptable to any situation." 

The 17 Reservists from the 315th AES will be activated for an indeterminate amount of time, but weather dictating, could return home after 10 to 14 days.