MEDEVAC

Military abbreviation · Military Term

MEDEVAC
Stands forMedical evacuation
CategoriesMilitary

MEDEVAC stands for Medical evacuation, a military term abbreviation.

Movement of wounded or sick personnel by dedicated medical vehicles or aircraft with medical crews to treatment facilities, usually requested with a standard nine-line radio message.

Example: The MEDEVAC helicopter landed within 40 minutes of the 9-line request.

Usage notes

Army air ambulance units use the call sign "Dustoff," a tradition from Vietnam. In 2009 Defense Secretary Robert Gates directed that wounded troops in Afghanistan reach care within the "golden hour." Dedicated medical aircraft carry red cross markings and are protected under the Geneva Conventions, unlike CASEVAC platforms.

More military term abbreviations

  • LOAC – Law of armed conflict
  • LOD – Line of duty
  • LZ – Landing zone
  • MARPAT – Marine Pattern
  • MASCAL – Mass casualty
  • MDMP – Military decision-making process
  • MEPS – Military Entrance Processing Station
  • METT-TC – Mission, enemy, terrain and weather, troops and support available…
  • MGRS – Military Grid Reference System
  • MIA – Missing in action
  • MOLLE – Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment
  • MOPP – Mission-oriented protective posture

See all 248 military term abbreviations →