Military Medical Personnel Aid Haiti Relief, Maintain Presence at Home

February 4, 2010 - Soon after the massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the doctors, nurses, corpsmen and medics of America’s armed forces were on their way to care for the victims of the disaster.

“We are incredibly proud of our medical personnel who’ve deployed to Haiti to care for our southern neighbors coping with the aftermath of the earthquake,” said Rear Adm. Christine Hunter, deputy director of the TRICARE Management Activity. “We also thank the providers here back at home who’ve stepped forward and continue to provide health care to our service members and their families.”

TRICARE leaders in all three regions are monitoring the situation and working closely with all the services to ensure beneficiaries in the United States continue to have medical care available to them within TRICARE’s rigorous access standards.

“There are enough medical providers at military treatment facilities and in the managed care support contractors’ networks to meet our beneficiaries’ needs,” said Rear Adm. Elizabeth Niemyer, director of the TRICARE Regional Office-West. “Beneficiaries should continue to call the normal appointment lines to schedule routine and urgent care appointments.”

Among the flotilla of U.S. ships off the coast of Haiti is the hospital ship USNS Comfort. Aboard the 1,000-bed floating hospital about 600 medical personnel are caring for patients, making a significant impact in humanitarian aid and relief mission in Haiti. The Comfort surgical team has performed nearly 300 procedures, ranging from repairing crushed limbs to amputations in an effort to save lives. The ship's medical professionals have also assisted in the birth of a baby girl. All together more than 700 patients have been admitted. The medical staff aboard the Comfort comes mainly from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia. Specialists from many other military hospitals and clinics in the United States are also serving aboard ships and on shore during the relief effort.

Additionally, more than 16,000 U.S. military personnel with Joint Task Force-Haiti are assisting relief workers from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations, the international community and Haiti providing humanitarian assistance to communities impacted by the disaster.

Officials say the disaster has killed between 100,000 to 200,000 people and the Red Cross estimates some 3 million people have been affected. After delivering 1.4 million bottles of water, 700,000 meals and 22,000 pounds of medical equipment in the opening days of the relief effort, JTF-Haiti leaders now report the effort is in the sustainment phase providing 75 tons of food a day.

American military medical personnel will remain off-shore and on the ground in Haiti to support the relief and recovery efforts for the foreseeable future.