Covid-19: US Air Force conducts first Transport Isolation System aeromedical evacuation mission

The US Air Force (USAF) on 10 April conducted the first operational use of its Transport Isolation System (TIS) to perform an aeromedical evacuation.

The service used a TIS installed on a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III medium transport multirole aircraft to move three federal government contractors who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) from Afghanistan to Germany. The mission, performed by Air Mobility Command (AMC), was the first movement of Covid-19 positive patients aboard USAF aircraft, according to a service statement.

A US Air Force C-17 is prepped to transport a Transportation Isolation System (TIS) on 6 March 2019. The USAF on 10 April 2020 conducted the first operational use of the TIS to perform an aeromedical evacuation of three federal government contractors who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). (US Air Force)

The mission was comprised of a full TIS force package, which includes one C-17 carrying two TIS modules and aircrew. The TIS is an infectious disease containment unit designed to minimise risk to aircrew, medical attendants, and the airframe while enabling medical care to be provided to patients in-flight.

Upon arrival at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the patients were transferred to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for medical treatment. The TIS was originally developed during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

“(The mission) is a great demonstration of AMC’s transition to a warfighting component command with increased flexibility and speed, enabling our mobility airmen to quickly answer any call for help during this global campaign to defeat Covid-19,” AMC Commander General Maryanne Miller said in an 11 April statement.