Airmen, Chileans treat patients at new expeditionary hospital
A Chilean surgical technician and Senior Airman Alexander Balock reach for instruments during the first surgery at the expeditionary medical hospital March 15, 2010, in Angol, Chile. The local hospital in Angol, a city southeast of Conception, Chile, was deemed structurally unsound as a result of an 8.8-magnitude earthquake Feb. 27. With the nearest operation ward more than 40 miles away, and many other local hospitals overwhelmed with casualties following the earthquake, local Chilean officials requested assistance from U.S. forces to help with primary care capabilities. Airman Balock is a surgical technician from the 81st Medical Surgical Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Tiffany Trojca)