Patriot Taxiway Industries announced the delivery of 40 additional KC-135 Portable LED Cargo Lighting System kits to the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Earlier this year, the command’s Surgeon General Office ordered 16 kits to be deployed with medical crews in support of worldwide Aeromedical Evacuation (AE) mission. Doctors and nurses praised the improved lighting inside the cargo compartment, which enhanced the capability to perform basic and emergency inflight medical care to wounded military personnel.

“With Patriot Taxiway’s President Steven Smits and myself having a long background in the KC-135 community, it has been an honor to provide lighting to improve the lifesaving Aeromedical mission on the KC-135,” stated Kevin McDermott, Vice President of Business Development. “We look forward to providing more systems to improve every mission on the KC-135.”

The lighting kit was featured at the International Aeromedical Evacuation and En Route Care Conference in July at McChord-Lewis Joint Base, Washington State. Hundreds of aeromedical evacuation professionals from 28 nations got a first hand look of the latest in LED technology installed inside the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Patriot’s lighting kit produces more than 30 times the illumination that the original lighting system designed for the aircraft. Lighting is critical for aeromedical crews to observe the patient’s vital signs, changes in skin color and monitoring of medical equipment.

“It is humbling to have doctors and nurses compliment us on the improved lighting for the mission to bring home our wounded warriors from Afghanistan to Germany and then on to the United States,” stated Phil Walesa, Director of Engineering

Today, there are 60 lighting kits being used by the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard aeromedical crews during worldwide deployments. For more information about the KC-135 Portable LED Cargo Lighting System including a video demonstration, visit Patriot’s micro site at https://www.patriottaxiway.com/KC135/.