casualty evacuation
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casualty evacuation
The timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded soldiers being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of an accident to receiving medical facilities, or to patients at a rural hospital requiring urgent care at a better-equipped facility using dedicated, medically equipped ground vehicles (ambulances) or aircraft (air ambulances).The word medevac is used when the evacuation is performed by a dedicated, medically equipped vehicle staffed by one or more trained emergency technicians who provide care en route; casevac (casualty evacuation) is preferred in cases where the primary objective is immediate, emergency removal (without focus on en route care). Medevac is further distinguished by the clearly markings that indicate to an enemy that it is not a military vehicle and firing on it would constitute a war crime under Article II of the Geneva Convention (1949).