Military Technology EATC

EATC at Large contact with the national crews to hear about recent experiences. Or they just consulted news programmes or internet. This might look daring for a professional command, but the pandemic requested extraordinary solutions. Communication played a central role during this crisis. Means of communication had to be adjusted while delays to execute missions beca- me shorter, the reduced staff presence and social distancing putting pressure on established coor- dination principles. A quick exchange of informa- tion among all internal and external actors beca- me unprecedented vital. Step-by-step, EATC established recommendations to advise the na- tions on specific problems and to harmonise the procedures for multinational missions, including how to organise airdrop activities. EATC’s medical experts played a pivotal role and were heavily engaged to find common so- lutions. Aeromedical evacuation and the con- sequent medical treatment are highly sensitive national issues and need particular attention. The team finessed operational guidelines for management of air passengers and air/cabin crews. Moreover, they issued advice on how to evacuate patients with a suspected infection, on intra-theatre evacuation missions and on the use of medical equipment during the pandemic. Besides this functional support, they managed 1,500 aeromedical evacuations of infected and non-infected patients during the year 2020. This is an increase of about 50% in comparison to the previous years. Looking Into the Future COVID-19 offered unexpected opportunities to EATC. Some were implemented at the drop of a hat, while others will offer innovative undertakings for the future. As such, the EATC Commander prioritised the further standardisation of medical processes and regulations and the development of a lessons learned catalogue. Amongst others, recommen- dations include to permanently warehouse a stra- tegic stock of Personal Protective Equipment kits for flight wings and to train them in using these kits, as well as standard procedures for infectious passengers. EATC will also put care into its exer- cise programme in general to catch up on training objectives and to seize opportunities to reinforce the e-learning environment. This goes hand in hand with the set-up for home office capabilities to face any future crisis. In past year of the pandemic, EATC has proven that only acting in concert leads to success. On the one hand, through sharing aircraft and having privileged access to the whole diverse EATC fleet of 170 assets. On the other hand, through pooling experts into one single command. The EATC staff was able to face this unpredictable pandemic through varied professional and cultu- ral backgrounds, and made sure to overcome any problem with innovation and expertise. (Graphic: EATC) 18 · MILITARY TECHNOLOGY Special Issue 2021