ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Spanish-led Land Component Command (LCC) of the NATO Disaster Relief Team in Pakistan departed early this morning from Chaklala Air Base in Islamabad. NATO brought engineers and medics after a request from the Pakistani Government to assist in the emergency relief efforts after the October 8th earthquake.
The LCC directed engineering and medical relief operations in the Bagh district, an earthquake-affected area 150 km north of Islamabad. Their contributions saved and improved thousands of lives.
The LCC consisted of a Headquarters from the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps - Spain; a Spanish-led Multinational Engineers battalion with a Lithuanian Water Purification team, and engineer companies from Italy, Poland, Spain and UK; a Dutch-led NATO Military Relief Hospital with doctors and nurses from the Netherlands, Czech Republic, France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom; and French and Slovenian Civil Military Cooperation teams.
The following are just a few of the accomplishments during the relief mission in Pakistan:
- NATO's field hospital treated 4,890 patients and conducted 159 major surgeries.
- The mobile medical teams treated an additional 3,424 patients in remote mountain villages. NATO engineers removed over 40,000 cubic meters of debris; in addition, they cleared landslides, snow, and conducted repairs along nearly 60 km of roads in the mountainous area.
- They also distributed potable water for up to 1,000 people per day and upgraded a permanent spring water distribution and storage system to serve up to 8,400 people per day.
- They supported the Pakistani Army in Operation Winter race, by constructing over 110 multi-purpose shelters for the population living in the mountains before the snow set in.
- They constructed nine schools and medical structures in the lower valley areas of the earthquake zone as well as improving sanitation in towns and villages.
"We came for a relief mission and we did" said General Juan Bautis, LCC Commander, "The love we received from the people of Pakistan is more than what we did for them"