JP 3-50 National Search and Rescue Manual Vol I - US Navy

velocity. Medical information should include whether the patient is
ambulatory. RUs do not normally carry a stretcher, and, if one is
needed, this information should be obtained prior to dispatch.
C. After the RU has departed base, the vessel should be advised of
its ETA. The vessel should stand a continuous radio guard on a
specified frequency to establish communications with the fixed-wing
escort and later with the RU. Frequent transmissions may be requested
from the ship for homing.
D. When personnel are removed from vessels, all immigration,
quarantine, and customs laws must be observed. Agencies concerned with
these laws are normally advised. If the patient is a foreign national,
the appropriate embassy or consulate should be notified.
E. If the vessel is far at sea, MEDEVACs are often accomplished by
another vessel, possibly the Coast Guard or Navy. Merchant vessels with
doctors or medical facilities may provide a source of medical treatment,
or the patient may be transferred from an outbound merchant vessel to
one inbound. The AMVER system can be of great help in finding a
suitable merchant vessel to assist. SMCs can only request, not direct,
assistance from merchant vessels.
932 Evacuation From Land Areas
Evacuation for land areas is covered in Chapter 8, Inland SAR Operations.
933 Survivor Delivery
When survivors are delivered to a medical facility, the person in
charge of the delivering unit should provide information on all first
aid and emergency treatment given. The degree of briefing depends on
the medical competence of the personnel who administered emergency
treatment. Information which should be passed includes the type of
injury or condition, treatment given and medications, including time and
amounts, and times when tourniquets, splints, or compress bandages were
applied. The survivor processing tag, medical logs, and any other
medical records should be delivered to medical personnel.
940 FIXED MEDICAL FACILITIES
The SMC normally selects, based on knowledge of local capabilities,
a suitable medical facility to receive injured survivors. Fixed medical
facilities involved in SAR work include emergency medical care centers,
general hospitals, private hospitals, clinics, sanitariums, and first
aid stations. Some military hospitals and clinics provide medical
advisory services to the SAR system, but they are survivor receiving
hospitals only for those persons authorized to be admitted. Generally,
this service is limited to military personnel, their dependents, and
certain government officials. Where civil hospitals are not available,
military hospitals will usually admit civilian patients for emergency
treatment.
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