Airmen set to arrive in Chile, will begin relief efforts

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SANTIAGO, Chile (AFNS) --  An Air Force Expeditionary Medical Support team deployed from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is scheduled to arrive in Santiago, Chile, March 9 aboard three C-17 Globemaster aircraft, where it will assist citizens affected by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the nation Feb. 27.

The team, consisting of approximately 84 Airmen, including 63 medics, will conduct humanitarian assistance operations in the city of Angol, southeast of Concepcion, an area that suffered considerable damage from the earthquake.

The deployment is being funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance as part of a multi-agency relief effort by the U.S. government in Chile. The medical team will join other relief activities already under way there.

The EMEDs team is equipped and staffed to provide surgical, primary care, pediatric, radiological, gynecological, laboratory, pharmaceutical, and dental services. The Airmen will work alongside Chilean civilian medics during their deployment.

On March 7, U.S. Southern Command officials deployed a 10-person command-and-control team to Santiago to assist the U.S. military group overseeing U.S. military assistance to Chile in the aftermath of the earthquake.

On March 6, two Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft and a team of about 50 Airmen from the 139th Airlift Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard arrived in Santiago to support and augment a Chilean Air Force-led airlift relief operation delivering aid to affected communities near the earthquake's epicenter.