Aeromedical Isolation Team The Aeromedical Isolation Team ( AIT , or SMART - AIT ) of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases ( USAMRIID ) at Fort Detrick , Maryland was a military rapid response team with worldwide airlift capability designed to safely evacuate and manage contagious patients under high - level ( BSL - 4 ) bio - containment conditions . Created in 1978 , during its final years the AIT was one of MEDCOM ’ s Special Medical Augmentation Response Team s ( SMART teams ) comprising a portable containment laboratory along with its transit isolators for patient transport . Contingency missions included bioterrorism scenarios as well as the extraction of scientists with exotic infections from remote sites in foreign countries . The AIT trained continuously and was often put on alert status , but only deployed for “ real world ” missions four times . The AIT was decommissioned in 2010 and its mission assumed by one of the US Air Force ’ s Critical Care Air Transport Team s ( CCATTs ) . History . The AIT was created in 1978 for purposes of contingency air evacuation of a hypothetical USAMRIID researcher who might become exposed to a highly infectious pathogen while undertaking endemic surveillance in remote areas of the world where a suspected or known disease outbreak was occurring . At the core of AIT operations was its specialized equipment , notably the Aircraft Transit Isolator ( ATI ) . Developed by Vickers in the U . K . in the 1970s — and manufactured in later years by Elwyn Roberts Isolators , Shropshire , UK , until 2007 — the ATI was a self - contained unit capable of transporting a patient with a highly virulent disease and at the same time providing maximum microbiological security while full nursing care and treatment are rendered . It was designed to minimize the risk of transmission to air crews and caregivers , whether military or civilian . The interior of the isolator was maintained at a pressure negative to the external environment by a high - efficiency particulate air ( HEPA ) filtered blower . The isolator could be attached directly to a transfer port , situated on the external wall of the main USAMRIID building , to allow movement of the patient into a BSL - 4 medical care suite without exposing the environment to the patient . While moving the isolator , team members wore protective suits and positive - pressure , HEPA - filtered Racal hoods ( manufactured by Racal Health & Safety , Inc , Frederick , Maryland ) . Throughout its existence the AIT was associated with a BSL - 4 Medical Containment Suite ( MCS , called “ the Slammer ” ) at USAMRIID for patient care , which was the destination to which contagious patients were to be removed . Over the years the scope of the AIT mission was expanded to include U . S . military personnel , the U . S . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , and U . S . citizens or foreign nationals deemed to be in need of service by the U . S . Department of State . In 2007 , due to the death of Mr Roberts , the ATI and associated products ceased to be manufactured . During 2008 - 2010 , the AIT began preliminary training with , and testing of , a new transit isolator product — the Patient Isolation Unit ( PIU ) — developed by the Gentex Corporation under a contract with the U . S . Air Force . The AIT was decommissioned — along with the MCS — in 2010 and its mission was assumed by one of the US Air Force ’ s Critical Care Air Transport Team s ( CCATTs ) .