MEDICAL EVACUATION REQUEST (MEDEVAC) A MEDEVAC request contains all the information that Direct Air Support Center (DASC) personnel need to dispatch a helicopter to your position. In a combat situation, the Combat Operation Center (COC) routes the request from the battalion aid station to higher headquarters. Higher headquarters will route the request to DASC personnel. In extreme situations where communication to the COC or the battalion aid station is interrupted, platoon commanders or company commandes should have the knowledge and capabilities to request a MEDEVAC. The operation plan (OPLAN) will explain the routing of a MEDEVAC request. A MEDEVAC request does not actually bring the helicopter to the LZ. The request simply identifies the requesting unit, location of the LZ, and describes the casualty. The DASC will make the necessary arrangements/ decisions concerning the MEDEVAC request. The format in figure 3-17 contains all the information required in a MEDEVAC request. The format may change slightly at diffenmt organizations.

MEDEVAC PROCEDURES The importance of a well-thought-out MEDEVAC plan cannot be emphasized enough. The lives of everyone in the unit depend on it. All personnel assigned to the unit must know the MEDEVAC procedures. The elements requiring special consideration are litter bearers, ambulance, battalion aid station, and LZ security.

LITTER BEARERS Litter bearers should be personnel, such as messcooks, personnelmen, and yeomen, from Headquarters Company. The litter bearers are assigned as stretcher teams with the COC being the prime coordinator for their utilization. The COC will inform the battalion aid station for their assistance. Many variations occur however, and it must be emphasized that this source of litter bearers is not taken for granted. Platoon commanders and the company chief must be assured of an adequate number of litter teams. Eight men per company are considered adequate unless mass casualties are anticipated. Other sources of litter bearers are as follows:

1. Members of the platoon. This source is mentioned only to be discouraged, although it will be well recognized that in an emergency this may be the only source available. Utilization of platoon personnel manning the defensive lines or FEBA may result in a disastrous lack of fire power when it is most needed for defense.

2. Members of the reserve platoon. Here again it is recognized that in an emergency, this source must be used. However, to rely on this source is not a good practice because the reserve platoon is critically needed during a heavy attack; therefore, if the platoon is used for casualty evacuation, the company commander may be caught shorthanded.

When a casualty occurs, the wounded person, if possible, should go to a relatively protected location away from the defensive lines or FEBA. The word is then quietly passed to the CP for a corpsman or litter bearer. The CP will then inform the COC for action. Passing the word back quietly and expeditiously is important. Loud shouting for a corpsman by all the troops in the vicinity can Litter bearers are vital for the survival of a have a demoralizing effect on other troops. casualty, in the maintenance of good morale, Incidents have occurred when inexperienced and most of all to prevent loss of firepower for troops have panicked because of frenzied the defending platoons. For these reasons, it is shouting of the whole squad for a corpsman to vital that provisions for litter bearers be included take care of a single casualty. in the MEDEVAC plan.

Figure 3-16.- Sample of landing zone brief

Figure 3-17.- MEDEVAC request. AMBULANCE An ambulance is normally stationed at the battalion aid station (BAS) and functions as far forward as the terrain and enemy activity permits. The ambulance is primarily used to prevent the prolonged carrying of litters. When the ambulance is called forward, explicit instructions are given as to routes taken and the exact location to which it is to go. Ambulances frequently draw enemy mortar and artillery fire; therefore, they should not be brought up to an area under direct observation of the enemy.