SOUTHCOM Diverts Navy Ship, Helos to Support Haiti Relief

Last update: 6:37 p.m. EDT Sept. 5, 2008

MIAMI, Sept 05, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- U.S.
Southern Command has directed Commander, Fourth Fleet to divert the
amphibious ship USS KEARSARGE (LHD 3) to Haiti to assist with relief
efforts in areas affected by flooding due to tropical storm activity
in the Caribbean.
Kearsarge will depart today from its present location in Santa Marta,
Colombia to Haiti and will join other U.S. assistance operations in
the vicinity of Port au Prince on 7 Sept.
Kearsarge is currently supporting phase two of Continuing Promise
2008, a humanitarian assistance mission that includes assisting
partner nations impacted by natural disasters and other emergencies
resulting in human suffering or danger to human lives.
Kearsarge's capabilities include rapid movement of personnel and
cargo by helicopter and landing craft, making it an ideal platform to
support humanitarian relief mission on short notice.
Airlift assets embarked aboard Kearsarge include the CH-53 Super
Stallion and the MH-60S Seahawk.
The crew of Kearsarge includes a team of medical personnel that can
provide first-aid and other health care related services to
communities impacted by conditions associated with the flooding.
Medical facilities aboard Kearsarge include four operating rooms, 13
intensive-care unit beds, 40 medical ward beds, a laboratory, x-ray
equipment and a blood bank.
SOUTHCOM last directed an amphibious ship to assist a partner nation
impacted by a natural disaster exactly one year ago. On Sept. 5,
2007, SOUTHCOM dispatched the USS WASP to provide assistance to
victims of Hurricane Felix in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.
U.S. Southern Command military planners continue to work with
interagency partners and their counterparts in countries affected by
the recent tropical cyclone activity to assess recovery needs in the
affected areas and identify additional U.S. military units that may
be able to provide assistance.
Additional information will be released as it becomes available and
posted at www.southcom.mil.
Additional information about Continuing Promise 2008 is available at:
http://www.southcom.mil/AppsSC/factFiles.php?id=53.
SOURCE U.S. Southern Command

http://www.southcom.mil

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