Since the beginning of February, Georgia has received – and provided medical treatment to – dozens of injured Haitians in support of Operation Healing Hands, a program that is helping Haitians recover from the devastating earthquake that demolished their country in January.

The first five injured Haitians, including an 18-month-old with brain injuries, were airlifted from the USNS Comfort, a Naval hospital ship deployed to Haiti to assist in the massive recovery effort, and transported to Dobbins Air Force Base, Feb. 2.  While Florida had been handling the majority of the injured Haitians transported to the U.S., this was the first group directed to Georgia.

The GSDF, specifically, was tasked with supporting the 94th Airlift Wing at DARB with the disembarkation of medical evacuees from Haiti.  GSDF troops worked to establish flight lines, ramp controls and offload of injured Haitians.

After the first week of receiving injured evacuees, the GSDF had dedicated a total of 97 troops and nearly 370 man-hours to the cause of helping 34 injured Haitians recuperate.

Click here for additional GSDF photos.