Acronyms that contain the term casualty evacuation 

Casualty evacuation

Casualty evacuation, also known as CASEVAC or by the callsign Dustoff or colloquially Dust Off, is a military term for the emergency patient evacuation of casualties from a combat zone. Casevac can be done by both ground and air. "DUSTOFF" is the callsign specific to U.S. Army Air Ambulance units. DUSTOFF is an acronym meaning Dedicated Unhesitating Service To Our Fighting Forces. Casevacs by air today are almost exclusively done by helicopter, a practice begun on a small scale toward the end of World War II; before that, STOL aircraft, such as the Fieseler Fi 156 or Piper J-3 were used. Casevac aircraft are a non standardized and non dedicated vehicle, that does not necessarily have en route care which is used to get a casualty back to another location where they can be treated by professional medical staff. The primary difference between a CASEVAC and a medical evacuation is that a MEDEVAC uses a standardized and dedicated vehicle providing en route care. On the other hand, CASEVAC uses non standardized and non dedicated vehicles that may or may not provide en route care. The service exists to transport casualties that are in dire need for evacuation from the battlefield and do not have time to wait on a MEDEVAC, or where a MEDEVAC is unable to get to the casualty. MEDEVAC aircraft and ground transport are mandated by the Geneva Convention to be unarmed and well marked. Firing on "clearly marked and identified" MEDEVAC vehicles would be considered a war crime under Article II of the Geneva Convention, in the same sense as firing on a Hospital Ship would be a war crime. CASEVAC transport are allowed to be armed since they are normally used for other purposes but carry no penalties for engagement by hostile forces. So in a sense, MEDEVAC transports are dedicated aircraft to transport casualties, CASEVAC is any transport used to move battlefield casualties.

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