Landing craft are capable of transporting tracked or wheeled vehicles and troops from amphibious assault ships to beachheads or piers. LCM's feature a bow ramp for onload and offload. LCU's have both bow and stern ramps for onload/offload at either end.

LCUs can be easily used for transporting litter patients from the beach to a ship. Three important considerations are:

1. There are no enclosed spaces on the LCU, so the patient will be exposed to the weather (heat, cold, sun, sea spray, rain, snow, etc.)
2. These are relatively small craft, subject to considerable pitching and rolling. Aside from the motion-sickness-provoking aspect of this movement on the patient, the litter needs to be secured to the deck to prevent dangerous sliding across the deck, particularly in rough sea states.
3. LCUs normally do not carry any medical care equipment nor personnel. It is best to send at least one corpsman with the litter patient, with whatever equipment might be needed during the transfer.

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Operational Medicine 2001

Health Care in Military Settings

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