Among the support actions of the Brazilian Air Force are the setting up of a Field Hospital and aerial resupply in the region of Surucucu (RR)
Air Force Agency, by Lieutenant Marayane Ribeiro
A multi-mission KC-390 Millennium aircraft of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) took off, this Monday (01/23), from Galeão Air Base (BAGL), bound for Boa Vista Air Base (BABV) to provide support to the populations in Yanomami territory, in the region of Surucucu (RR). In all, 31 military personnel and a load of 19 tons embarked for the region, which is facing a serious health crisis involving malnutrition, malaria and acute respiratory infection.
There, the Air Force, under the coordination of the Ministries of Defense (MD) and Health (MS), will set up a Field Hospital, where a multidisciplinary team will take turns in caring for approximately 700 indigenous people, of these 278 patients already hospitalized.
The mission includes doctors in the specialties of Internal Medicine, Orthopedics, General Surgery, Pediatrics, Radiology, Gynecology, and Pathology, as well as nurses, pharmacists, and nursing technicians. For the proper care of the indigenous community, the following were sent as cargo: X-ray equipment; ultrasound equipment; a pharmacy and a laboratory, which make laboratory exams possible; a cellular health unit, with inpatient beds for outpatients and stabilization for more serious patients who need to be removed to more complex Health Units; among others.
The Aeronautics Health Director, Medical Major-Brigadier Cloer Vescia Alves, highlighted the relevance of the mission. “Missions of this nature are extremely important for the Air Force Health System, since operational health represents one of the main missions, and it can meet the needs of the Brazilian society. It is our duty to help, in the best way possible, those in need and to perform our work with the utmost professionalism,” the General Officer pointed out.
Air Support
Also on Monday (23/01) an Air Force C-97 aircraft carried out the transport, from Brasilia (DF) to Boa Vista (RR), of a committee composed of 13 health professionals from the Ministry of Health that will closely monitor the situation of the population of the Yanomami region. The Brazilian Air Force has also been supporting the transportation of basic food supplies to the region. By means of C-98 Caravan and H-60L Black Hawk aircraft, over the weekend alone, more than 4 tons of food were transported to be distributed in the area.
Humanitarian aid mission in the Yanomami region
In one of its noble missions, the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) is carrying out, starting this Sunday, January 22, the aerial resupply in the region of Surucucu, in Roraima (RR). Due to the public disaster conditions – decreed by the Ministry of Health – caused by the health crisis that has affected the Yanomami population, the FAB was activated to send food baskets to the Indigenous Community of Kataroa, plagued by high rates of malnutrition and infectious diseases.
The humanitarian aid is being sent with C 98 Caravan and H-60 Black Hawk aircraft, operated by the Seventh Air Transport Squadron (7th ETA – Cobra Squadron) and the Seventh Squadron of the Eighth Aviation Group (7th/8th GAV – Haze Squadron), since the location is difficult to access. Other aircraft must be activated to fulfill the mission.
Initially, the food baskets are concentrated at the Boa Vista Air Base (BABV), from where the aircrafts employed in the mission are loaded and fly to the neediest indigenous locations.
According to the Commander of the BABV, Aviator Colonel Maurício José de Oliveira Côrte Real, participating in a mission like this is a source of pride, because by being activated he was able to help save lives that were in extremely precarious situations. “The aircraft were loaded and the pilots and crew immediately went to the community of Kataroa, carrying about 70 baskets of food, which totaled 1,260 kilos of food. The flight lasted approximately two hours, and we were able to help the families who live there,” he said.
The Air Force, under the coordination of the Ministry of Defense (MD), is also responsible for setting up a field hospital in the region and, to do so, a multidisciplinary Air Force team, made up of doctors from Operation Welcome (who worked in the missions to help Venezuelan refugees), will be sent to the Surucucu region.
*** Translated by the DEFCONPress FYI team ***