CASEVAC

Casevac is a portmanteau word that means "casualty evacuation". This can apply to injured soldiers or civilians, and is used to denote the emergency patient evacuation of injured people from a combat zone. Casevac can be done by both ground and air. Casevacs by air today are almost exclusively done by helicopter, a practice begun on a small scale toward the end of World War II; before that, STOL aircraft, such as the Fiesler Fi 156 or Piper J-3 were used. Casevac aircraft are not necessarily equipped with specific life saving equipment or specially trained medical personnel. They are used as a primary means of getting a casualty back to another location were they can be treated by professional medical staff.

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Casevac personnel have extensive medical training. Their primary purpose is to transport personnel from danger to the nearest appropriate medical facility, as quickly as possible. Trained in advanced life-saving techniques, casevac is directly responsible for drastically reducing the casualty mortality rate in the Iraq war.

In the U.S. Military, the highest level of medical care available prior to a casevac is from combat medics. These personnel are trained to stabilize patients during very specific life-threatening situations, such as tension pneumothorax or severe bleeding, but lack equipment and training for any unusual or complex medical emergencies. A large percentage of soldiers in the U.S. Army are trained to be combat lifesavers.

In Australian military terminology, a casevac refers to the evacuation of a small number of troops, usually just one.

See also

• MEDEVAC