From: www.wired.com

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - After they helped save the soldier’s life, the rescue team was pissed. Yeah, they were able to roll out from their plywood hooch, jump on their helicopters, fly to the middle of minefield, do a quick medical and security assessment, get the soldier on a stretcher, and bring the guy into a military trauma center – all in less than half an hour. But the members of the team, part of the Air Force’s 55th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, couldn’t believe the save had taken that long. If they were really on their game, they figured, they could’ve cut that time by five, 10 minutes, maybe more.

“I’m gonna take a lot of heat for this one,” said Staff Sergeant Scott Dowd. “That was dogsh*t. We could’ve gone a lot faster. That was dogsh*t on me.”

As the war in Afghanistan intensifies, the pressure on military rescue teams is mounting. August was the deadliest month for coalition troops since 2001. The squadron that the 55th replaced this week went on more than 400 casualty and medical evacuation missions in four moths, saving more than 400 lives. In their first two days on the job, the 55th launched 12 more missions of their own.

The busier these rescue teams get, hauling the wounded out of Afghanistan’s kill zones, the smaller their room for error becomes. The quicker they can get patients to the hospital, the more likely they are to survive. Which is why, on their third day of work, the 55th was picking apart every aspect of their team’s performance, looking for ways to shave off time.