ACIBC Fact Sheet: Humanitarian
Following the 2004 Asian tsunami, a
Hospital
Corpsman, assigned to USS
Abraham Lincoln
(CVN 72),
checks the
blood pressure of an
Indonesian
man
at the Sultan Iskandar Muda
Air Force
Base, Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia.
- In emergency or relief efforts, aircraft carriers can provide:
- Enough space to support a crew of 3,200, an air wing of nearly 2,500 personnel and a command staff of more than 100 personnel.
- A food services department capable of serving 18,000 to 20,000 meals per day.
- A well-equipped, 50-bed hospital manned by six doctors, including a surgeon.
- A dental clinic with five dental officers capable of caring for as many as 70 patients per day.
- The U.S. Navy dispatched an aircraft carrier to assist with relief operations after the Southeast Asian tsunami in December 2004. The carrier's surveillance aircraft conducted survey operations, including search-and-rescue efforts, and cargo planes delivered supplies from Bangkok to affected areas.
- In January 2010, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) arrived in Haiti to provide medical services and humanitarian assistance in the immediate aftermath of that country’s devastating earthquake. During the first week of the crisis Vinson was the center of relief operations serving as hospital, delivering tons of food and medical supplies, and converting 400,000 gallons of sea water into drinking water through its giant desalination plant.
- In March 2011, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) arrived off the coast of Japan to provide food, water, medicine and clothing to those devastated by the tragic 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami. Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told the crew of the Reagan, "Your warm help will be cherished and engrained in the hearts and souls of the Japanese people."