Operation Pakistan Assist Gallery

An Australian Defence Force medical team has deployed to Pakistan to provide vital health care assistance to those affected by the recent earthquake.

The first element of the team flew out of Sydney Airport on Thursday 10 November.

RAAF B-707 and C-130 aircraft conducted the initial airlift to a base at Dhanni, about 20km north east of Muzaffarabad on the Pakistan side of the Kashmir Line Of Control.

The deployment will be for up to 90 days as part of Operation Pakistan Assist.

The team, made up of about 140 personnel, includes a command element, aviation detachment as well as logistics and communication personnel.

Four Black Hawk helicopters will be deployed to provide essential transport and support tasks around the remote town of Dhanni.

The Black Hawk helicopters will give the medical team the ability to provide assistance to remote regional communities, which have limited road access and are hampered by very difficult terrain.

A central medical facility will be established in Dhanni. However, the ADF team will have the ability to disperse three separate mobile medical groups from the central hub into the neighbouring region.

This will provide maximum flexibility to provide humanitarian assistance to a large number of people who have suffered so much as a result of the earthquake and are in desperate need of assistance before the harsh winter conditions set in.

The Black Hawk detachment has been drawn primarily from the Army's 5th Aviation Regiment based in Townsville. The majority of the health and support personnel are from the Army's logistic support force based at Randwick Barracks, in Sydney.

The medical team has been supplemented by an Air Force primary health care team based at Richmond, New South Wales, with other personnel drawn from a range of units across Australia. The team includes a number of Reserve personnel.

This deployment builds on the successful work by our ADF personnel providing humanitarian assistance to countries affected by natural disasters.
 

Information current at 15 November 2005