Argentine Air Force Mobile Field Hospital

The Argentine Air Force Mobile Field Hospital (Spanish: Hospital Reubicable de la Fuerza Aérea ) is a field hospital operated by the Argentine Air Force. It is one of three health centers of its kind worldwide ^[1].

Description

The unit has a 64-member staff personnel between militaries and civilians and is made up to 14 containers ^Pictorial which when they are all assembled together they occupy 360 m2. Fourteen flights of C-130 Hercules aircraft are needed to fully deploy the Hospital^[2].

Among the services provided by the Hospital are surgeries, odontology, pharmacy, etc. The Hospital has its own laboratory, water purification plant and power generation engine^[3].

Thanks to its isolation, the construction can withstand temperatures from -15 to 40 Celsius and can endure harsh tremors as demonstrated to remain operational after the earthquake of January 2010 in Haiti.^[4]

Deployments

• 1981 : San Luis Province
• 1982 : Comodoro Rivadavia during the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas )
• 1983 : Chaco and Formosa provinces.
• 1984-1986 : Buenos Aires province
• 1993-1995 : Mozambique under United Nations mandate
• 2000-2003 : Kosovo Force (KFOR) under NATO mandate ^[5][6][7]
• 2004 : Deployment to Afghanistan aborted due Hurricane Jeanne: Deployed to Haiti instead.
• 2004–Present : MINUSTAH medical facility in Haiti ^{( Google Maps, picture)}
• 2010 feb/sep : Curicó after the Chile earthquake ^{[8] video Chile}

2010 Haiti earthquake

On January 12, 2010 while deployed at Port-au-Prince serving as medical facility for MINUSTAH troops the hospital was the only one still opened following the earthquake treating nearly 1,000 people on the first night^[9][10]

Both U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton congratulated Argentina for the Hospital quick response in the first critical hours after the earthquake ^[11] The same did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to Buenos Aires on 1 March 2010 ^[12]

References

• La Fuerza Aérea dará apoyo sanitario en Puerto Príncipe
• El hospital argentino en Haití, un reflejo de los dramas cotidianos
• Un hospital es blanco del conflicto étnico

1. ^ El hospital argentino es el único centro de atención para las miles de víctimas del terremoto
2. ^ Official site
3. ^ Official site
4. ^ El hospital argentino es el único centro de atención para las miles de víctimas del terremoto
5. ^ official FAA report
6. ^ Militares argentinos intervienen en Kosovo
7. ^ Los argentinos que trabajan por la paz en Kosovo
8. ^ mindef:PARTIÓ HACIA CHILE AVIÓN HÉRCULES CON AYUDA HUMANITARIA
9. ^ "Only one hospital open in Haiti's quake hit capital". Courier Mail. 2010-01-13. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,26587037-5003402,00.html?from=public_rss. 
10. ^ "Cnn Haiti Earthquake news". CNN. 2010-01-13. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/haiti.updates/index.html?section=cnn_latest. 
11. ^ Obama y Clinton elogiaron la labor humanitaria de Argentina
12. ^ I thanked the president for the excellent work that is done by the Argentine doctors and peacekeepers in Haiti.

External links

• (Spanish) Official site
• (Portuguese) Hospital Reubicable at defesanet.com.br

v d e Military of Argentina Ministry of Defense (Industry  · J2  · Ranks) Army (Units  · Aviation) Navy (Marines  · Aviation  · Submarines  · SHN) Air Force (VYCEA  · AAP  · LADE  · Hospital  · Museum)