Air Evacuation under High-LevelBiosafety Containment: The
Aeromedical
Isolation Team1
The Aeromedical Isolation Team
Military contingency operations in tropical environments and
potential use ofbiological weapons by adversaries may place troops
at risk for potentially lethalcontagious infections (e.g., viral
hemorrhagic fevers, plague, and zoonotic poxvirusinfections).
Diagnosis and treatment of such infections would be expedited
byevacuating a limited number of patients to a facility with
containment laboratories. Tosafely evacuate such patients by
military aircraft and minimize the risk for transmissionto air
crews, caregivers, and civilians, the U.S. Army Medical Research
Institute of
Infectious Diseases maintains an aeromedical isolation team.
This rapid responseteam, which has worldwide airlift capability
designed to evacuate and manage patientsunder high-level
containment, also offers a portable containment laboratory,
limitedenvironmental decontamination, and specialized consultative
expertise. This articlealso examines technical aspects of the
team’s equipment, training, capabilities, anddeployments.
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Table 1. Infections and conditions requiring containmentcare
during transport
