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.
10. "Cnn Haiti Earthquake news". CNN. 2010-01-13.
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

Coordinates: 18°34′42″N 72°16′33″W / 18.57844°N 72.27593°W