Aeromedical Biological Containment System

Its purpose is to safely air-transport a highly contagious patient; it comprises a transit isolator (a tent-like plastic structure provided with negative air pressure to prevent escape of airborne-contagious pathogens) and an appropriately configured supporting aircraft.

[1] Additionally, the memory of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic of 2003-2004 and the then-current avian influenza threat (both potentially requiring transport of sick patients back to the U.S. from the Far East) prompted CDC officials to initiate the program that became the ABCS.

On 2 August 2014, the ABCS carried the first Ebola patient (Dr. Kent Brantly, an employee of Samaritan's Purse) ever to be evacuated to the United States; three days later, it transported another, Nancy Writebol.

To date, Phoenix Air and the ABCS have flown five Ebola patients out of West Africa (four Americans—Brantly, Writebol, Dr Rick Sacra, and an unidentified American on September 9 -- and a German doctor from Sierra Leone to Hamburg, Germany).

The modular ABCS utilizes a transit isolator consisting of a metal frame supporting numerous items of medical equipment (heart and pulse oxygen monitors, etc.).

This consists of spraying a powerful disinfectant inside the module for 24 hours and sending all contaminated contents — including the plastic casing, patient stretchers, and even walkie-talkies — to an incinerator (operated by a federally licensed hazardous-materials disposal team) for burning.