23 January 2006
Phoning home from Operation Pakistan Assist

An Australian Defence Force medical team is working in Pakistan and Kashmir as part of a humanitarian mission to provide vital health care assistance to people affected by the 8 October 2005 South Asia earthquakes. The team has established a medical centre at the remote town of Dhanni, about 20km north-east of Muzaffarabad, on the Pakistan side of the Kashmir Line Of Control.

The team, of about 140 personnel, includes medical personnel, a command element, an aviation detachment and logistics and communication personnel. Four Black Hawk helicopters are deployed to provide essential transport and support tasks.

The helicopters give the ADF team the mobility to extend medical care from the central hub at Dhanni to assist a large number of people in the harsh terrain of the surrounding region .

The Black Hawk detachment is primarily from the Australian Army 5th Aviation Regiment based in Townsville. The health and support personnel comprise members of the Army's Logistic Support Force based at Rand wick Barracks, Sydney; a Royal Australian Air Force primary health care team from Richmond, New South Wales; and personnel drawn from a range of units across Australia, including Reserves

 

20060119adf8195319_017 Private Kyle Potter (left) phones home while Lance Corporal Daniel Goldburg (right) receives an e-mail on the systems set up by communications personnel at Camp Bradman, in Kashmir. (Date taken: 19 January 2006) Low-Res | Hi-Res