09 March 2010
U.S. Air Force Medical Team in Chile to Support Relief Efforts
Medical team to conduct humanitarian assistance operations in Angol
U.S Southern Command
Public Affairs Office
March 9, 2010
U.S. Air Force medical team deploys to Chile to support relief efforts
SANTIAGO, Chile – A U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Medical Support (EMEDS) team will arrive today in Santiago, Chile aboard three C-17 Globemaster aircraft, where it will assist citizens affected by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake Feb. 27.
The team, consisting of approximately 84 airmen, including 63 medical personnel, will conduct humanitarian assistance operations in the city of Angol, southeast of Concepcion, an area that suffered considerable damage as a result of the historic seismic event.
The deployment is being funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) as part of a multi-agency relief effort by the U.S. government in Chile and will join other activities already underway in Chile.
The EMEDs team is equipped and staffed to provide surgical, primary care, pediatric, radiological, gynecological, laboratory, pharmaceutical, and dental services. The airmen will be working alongside Chilean civilian medical personnel during their deployment.
On March 7, U.S. Southern Command deployed a 10-person command-and-control team to Santiago to assist the U.S. military group overseeing U.S. military assistance to Chile in the aftermath of the earthquake.
The command also supplied seven of 22 satellite phones contributed by the Dept. of Defense as part of 92 satellite phones the U.S. government delivered to Chilean emergency officials to facilitate communications until telephone networks in affected areas are repaired.
On March 6, two U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft and a team of about 50 airmen from the 139th Airlift Wing, Missouri Air National Guard arrived in Santiago to support and augment a Chilean Air Force-led airlift relief operation delivering aid to affected communities near the earthquake’s epicenter.
