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| Above, from left, Lisa Hass-Peters, RN, Rebecca Jelden, Jason Liu, MD, and Brian Dorrington are inside the KC-135 Stratotanker during a refueling mission. At right, the Stratotanker prior to flight. |
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Guard Thanks Froedtert StaffThree Froedtert Hospital staff members and a Medical College of Wisconsin physician got to know their Air National Guard partners in a meeting that took place 35,000 feet above ground on July 31. Jason Liu, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin emergency medicine physician; Lisa Hass-Peters, RN, emergency preparedness coordinator; Rebecca Jelden, Emergency Department technician; and Brian Dorrington, media relations specialist, took part in a once-in-a-lifetime refueling mission over Lake Erie.
The missions, described by Lt. John Capra as a “well orchestrated dance in the sky” occur at 250 to 270 miles per hour and the planes are just 40 feet apart during the refueling. The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin team flew on a KC-135 Stratotanker, which provides the core aerial refueling capability for the United States Air Force. The Stratotanker, often referred to by Guard members as a “flying gas station,” has the capability to offload 6,500 pounds of fuel per minute. It can carry 83,000 pounds of cargo or 57 passengers.
The refueling mission came as a thank you to Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin from the Guard for training and preparing members of the 128th Air Refueling Wing before deployment. About 20 Milwaukee-area Guardsmen with medical backgrounds have been training monthly, scrubbing in for surgeries, observing trauma cases and honing their skills for battlefield medical care.
In the mission, Froedtert staffers flew over Niagra Falls and practiced operating the refueling boom. The majority of the 800-plus members of the 128th Refueling Wing have been deployed in the Iraq War over the past several years (most take part in 30- to 180-day missions).
Last Review Date: Aug. 1, 2008 |
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