Objective To investigate the establishment of evaluation and assessment system for Chinese Air Force aeromedical evacuation (AE) system and to provide references for constructing AE system and capability assessment. Method The assessment essential indexes of AE were screened and defined by literature review,on site investigation and systemic analysis,and the evaluation index system framework was built then.For determining the evaluation and assessment system and weight of index at each level of the system Delphi based questionnaire was inquired from 21 specialists and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied. Results Upon 3 rounds of questionnaire investigation,the harmonious coefficient was 0.512,0.761 and 0.874 respectively,corresponding to 90.5％,94.7％ and 100.0％ questionnaire response.The x2 test of harmonious coefficient showed statistically significant (P ＜ 0.01). The determined Air Force AE capability assessment system included 5 primary indexes,12 secondary indexes and 36 third class indexes. Among which the primary were the indexes of organization and commanding,supporting,equipment,training and regulation correspondingly with the weight of 0.1309,0.3041,0.3860,0.1186 and 0.0607.The final weight of index passed the coincidence test (CR＜0.1). Conclusion Based on the current status of Air Force AE,it is suggested that to pay more emphasis on the all-around construction of AE system and comprehensive capability assessment but only focus on the improvement of personnel's accomplishment and medical abilities,in order to let the evaluation and assessment system more applicable.

Objective To conclude the essentials of an aeromedical evacuation (AE) system by reviewing the characteristics and development tendency of AE system in western armed forces.Literature resource and selection Domestic and abroad published monographs, papers and research reports in the relevant field. Literature quotation Twenty-seven papers and articles were cited.Literature synthesis As the preferred option of western countries in recent years, AE has achieved great success in organizing, commanding, medical supporting, equipment supplying, professional training and regulation system constructing and also played an irreplaceable role in both wartime and peacetime of casualty retrieval. Nowadays, the western countries are focusing on enhancing en-route care ability by improving medical aircraft's functions, developing more airborne medical equipments,and training more professional AE personnel. At same time, delivering telemed service on board is an important tendency of western AE system construction. Conclusion It is essential to establish the self-contained organization and commanding system, to accelerate the development of dedicated medical aircraft as well as to improve AE personnel training in building Chinese AE system.