Operation HESTIA and Joint Task Force Haiti

Operation HESTIA: Statistics

The area of responsibility

Port-au-Prince

The command team, support element and flying operations by the air component were based at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

Léogâne

Léogâne is a municipal district with a population of 130,000 located about 30 km west of Port-au-Prince, very close to the epicentre of the earthquake. Estimates set the extent of damage to city infrastructure close to 90 percent. Most of the Canadian Forces humanitarian effort focussed on Léogâne.

Jacmel

The earthquake destroyed 20 to 30 percent of all structures in Jacmel, a city of 40,000 tucked into the southern coast of Haiti. Jacmel was difficult to reach by ground transport, as the quake damaged the road system extensively. Canada rapidly deployed the frigate HMCS Halifax, the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), and specialized groups to help open and operate the local airport.

Joint Task Force Haiti: Composition and activities

Joint Task Force Haiti Headquarters

The headquarters of Joint Task Force Haiti was responsible for co-ordinating the work of the task force with its partners, and comprised more than 200 CF members with expertise in areas such as signals, mapping, human resources administration, finance, and co-ordination of operations. Linked to the Embassy of Canada in Haiti, the headquarters was at the heart of the Canadian whole-of-government approach, with representatives of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT).

The headquarters also maintained links to local representatives international organizations, such as the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and participated in round-table discussions on co-ordination of humanitarian aid in its area of responsibility.

Joint Task Force Haiti included land, maritime and air elements active in Port-au-Prince, Léogâne and Jacmel.

Land component

Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART)

Operational metrics: DART
Location: Port-au-Prince, Jacmel
Arrival of DART reconnaissance in Port-au-Prince	13 January 2010
Move of DART to Jacmel	16-19 January 2010
Closure of DART camp in Jacmel	11 March 2010
Return of DART personnel to Canada	15 March 2010
Patients treated at Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince	438
Patients treated at DART Role 1 clinic in Jacmel	10,111
Patients treated at DART village clinics in Jacmel area	2,541
Potable water produced	561,800 litres
Potable water distributed	224,760 litres
Rations distributed (with humanitarian agencies)	124,300 meals

With just over 200 members who maintain a high state of readiness, the DART is Canada's rapid-response capability for emergencies of all kinds. The reconnaissance element arrived in Port-au-Prince less than 24 hours after the earthquake, and the advance party that arrived on 14 January immediately went to work treating casualties in the grounds of the Canadian Embassy.

On 16 January, Jacmel was identified as the place where the DART would make the greatest positive impact.

The DART brought all three of its main capabilities to Op HESTIA:

• Engineer Platoon
• • Production of safe drinking water;
  • Street clearance and demolition of unstable structures in co-operation with Jacmel civic authorities;
  • Excavation and construction of latrines at orphanages and camps for internally displaced people;
  • Rubble clearance and temporary repairs on Route 204 between Jacmel and Léogâne
• Medical Platoon
• • Dispatch of mobile medical teams to hold Village Medical Outreach clinics in isolated communities;
  • Delivery of basic health care services to the people of Jacmel at a Role 1 clinic;
• Defence & Security Platoon
• • Provision of security for DART operations; and
  • Assisted the U.N. in providing security at the Pinchinat camp for internally displaced people, where the World Food Program fed about 4,000 per day.

1 Canadian Field Hospital

Operational metrics: 1 Cdn Fd Hosp
Location: Léogâne
Accepted first patients:	29 January 2010
Accepted last new patients:	10 March 2010
Closed	16 March 2010
Total patients treated:	4,922
Total surgical procedures:	192

1 Canadian Field Hospital (1 Cdn Fd Hosp) is a contingency unit of the Canadian Forces Health Services (CFHS). Its personnel - about 120 in all, including general physicians, operating room teams, specialists, mental health workers, technicians, pharmacists, dental staff, medics, nurses, physician assistants, administrators and support staff - belong to CFHS units at bases, wings and garrisons across Canada.

Called out for Op HESTIA on 13 January 2010, the personnel of 1 Cdn Fd Hosp took only nine days to deploy to Haiti with their equipment. When they arrived in Léogâne, the DART engineers had a site ready for their "enhanced Role 2" medical facility. ("Role 2" is the NATO designation for an intermediate-level field hospital designed for reception, triage and treatment of trauma patients.)

Composed of 28 sections of mobile accommodation, the 1 Cdn Fd Hosp facility at Léogâne offered:

• 2 operating rooms,
• 4 resuscitation bays,
• 103 beds:
• • 5 critical care,
  • 10 intermediate care,
  • 88 minimal-care,
• pharmacy, laboratory and x-ray sections, and
• dental services.

As part of transition planning, the hospital staff also assessed the capabilities of medical facilities in Léogâne and Jacmel.

Hospital operations received extensive support from the 3 R22eR Battalion Group, especially the engineer squadron, and from HMCS Athabaska.

3 R22eR Battalion Group

Operational metrics: 3 R22eR Battalion Group
Location: Port-au-Prince, Léogâne
Arrival of advance party:	14 January 2010
Return of last soldiers to Valcartier:	22 March 2010
Potable water produced:	2,329,188 litres
Potable water distributed:	2,142,627 litres
Meals distributed (with humanitarian agencies):	1,271,950

Comprising almost 500 soldiers, the 3 R22eR Battalion Group was made up of two rifle companies and one support company from the 3rd Battalion Royal 22e Régiment, and one squadron of sappers from 5 Combat Engineer Regiment.

To maximize its ability to help people in distress, 3 R22eR Battalion Group rapidly established links with other national contingents, local authorities and non-governmental organizations working in the area. During its first days on the ground, the Battalion Group worked with the DART engineers to prepare the site for the construction of the Role 2 facility for 1 Canadian Field Hospital, and helped with the evacuation of many expatriate Canadians.

The 3 R22eR Battalion Group handled a wide range of tasks, including:

• Co-ordination of and security for the distribution of humanitarian aid with partners including U.N. organizations and non-governmental groups at sites attracting crowds of more than 3,000 people;
• Distribution of humanitarian aid by helicopter in mountainous areas;
• Working with local authorities to organize cash-for-work programs employing local residents in projects to improve infrastructure and public services;
• Execution of quick-impact projects such as removing debris and digging drainage canals;
• Providing area security in co-operation with the Police nationale haïtienne (with HMCS Athabaskan);
• Production of safe drinking water with three Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPUs);
• Organizing mobile medical clinics and delivering health care services to isolated communities;
• Excavation of latrines and various construction tasks in camps for internally displaced people; and
• Construction of a government centre and a crisis centre at Léogâne City Hall.

Joint Task Force Support Element

Op HESTIA brought special logistics challenges, both because of the rapid, short-notice deployment and because the devastation in Haiti meant that very few local goods and services were available.

Comprising about 150 members drawn mostly from 5 Service Battalion in Valcartier, Quebec, the Joint Task Force Support Element delivered the full range of operational logistics services, including provision of all kinds of materiel, maintenance, military police, and management of all the materiel and personnel movements involved in deploying the task force and organizing its return to Canada.

From its base at the airport in Port-au-Prince and detachments at the deep-water port of Barahona in the Dominican Republic and in Kingston, Jamaica, the support element co-ordinated the movement of all task force personnel, equipment and materiel into the area of responsibility. When the other members of Joint Task Force Haiti were back in with their home units, the support element personnel stayed behind to close the Canadian camps, and load the task force's equipment and vehicles aboard ships and aircraft for return to Canada.

Maritime component

HMCS Athabaskan

Operational metrics: HMCS Athabaskan
Location: Léogâne
Departed Halifax	14 January 2010
Landed first working parties	19 January 2010
Departed Haitian waters	15 March 2010
Returned to Halifax	17 March 2010
Potable water delivered	32,760 litres
Rations distributed (with humanitarian agencies	8,690 meals
Passengers carried	352

A destroyer from the Atlantic fleet, HMCS Athabaskan came to Léogâne with a crew of 274, including a CH-124 Sea King helicopter detachment. Supporting 1 Cdn Fd Hosp and civilian aid agencies, working parties from the ship provided medical, technical, light engineering and security services, such as:

• Emergency medical care for earthquake survivors;
• Clearance of rubble and debris;
• Construction of essential structures - especially latrines and water distribution points - at orphanages and camps for internally displaced people;
• Crowd control and labour at clinics and humanitarian aid distribution points;
• Maintenance of complex equipment, including Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units;
• Helicopter airlift to transport passengers, humanitarian aid supplies and tanks of potable water; and
• Sealift from Kingston, Jamaica to Léogâne to ensure rapid transport of the land contingent.

HMCS Halifax

Operational metrics: HMCS Halifax
Location: Jacmel
Departed Halifax:	14 January 2010
Landed first working parties:	19 January 2010
Departed Haitian waters:	20 February 2010
Returned to Halifax:	2 March 2010
Potable water delivered	184,930 litres

A frigate from the Atlantic fleet, HMCS Halifax came to Jacmel with a crew of 225 sailors. Supporting both the DART and the airfield, working parties from the ship provided security, light engineering and technical services, such as:

• Clearance of rubble and debris;
• Construction of latrines and water distribution points at orphanages and camps for internally displaced people;
• Removal of trees from the airfield to allow CC-130 Hercules aircraft to land;
• Crowd control at humanitarian aid distribution points; and
• Maintenance of complex equipment, including Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units.

Air component

Operational metrics: Air component
Location: Port-au-Prince, Jacmel
Mass of cargo moved (helicopters):	124,451.8 kilograms (273,794 pounds)
Mass of cargo moved (strategic airlift):	2,393,450.0 kilograms (5,265,592 pounds)
Passengers moved (strategic airlift):	4,876
Air movements (helicopters):	130
Flying hours (helicopters):	843.2

The air component of JTFH had six CH-146 Griffon helicopters, of which four were configured for tactical support to land operations and two were configured for search-and-rescue and air-medevac missions. Flying operations were conducted from Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince.

The Griffons provided both reconnaissance and utility transport services, giving priority to the following airlift requirements:

• movement of humanitarian aid supplies and engineering equipment,
• medical evacuation flights to transport patients to advanced care in Port-au-Prince, and
• movement of task force personnel to areas inaccessible by road.

Airfield operations personnel were employed at both Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, where the earthquake had destroyed the air traffic control tower, and the tiny "uncontrolled" municipal airfield in Jacmel.

The effort at Jacmel involved about 80 ground staff from squadrons at 8 Wing Trenton. With a lawn chair and a portable UHF/VHR radio for a "tower", airfield operations began at first light on 21 January. To inform incoming pilots of the radio frequency to report in on, ground marshallers held up large cardboard signs beside the single runway - the airfield has no parallel taxiway. The air component personnel performed all the tasks involved in receiving up to 80 flights per day, including:

• Unloading shipments of humanitarian aid and military equipment from Canadian and U.S. aircraft;
• In co-operation with Jacmel Airport Authority: air traffic control, ground control and co-ordination of air operations;
• In co-operation with DART: security and light engineering tasks, especially at Jacmel Airfield;
• Basic instruction of Haitian airport workers in administration, fire safety, rescue techniques and movement of aircraft on the ramp; and
• In co-operation with Jacmel Airport Authority: Implementation of projects to improve and renovate airport facilities.

Airlift from Canada to Haiti, co-ordinated by Canadian Operational Support Command, was provided by the strategic airlift squadrons of 8 Wing Trenton and civilian airlifters under charter. Most cargo flights landed at Kingston, Jamaica, where their loads were transferred to CC-130 Hercules tactical airlifters for the flight into Jacmel.

Operation HESTIA: Statistics

Air operations
JTFH helicopters (1 CH-124 Sea King, 6 CH‑146 Griffons)
Mass of cargo moved (pounds)	456,804
Individual flights	196
Flying hours	1,075.4
Airlift (CC-130 Hercules, CC-117 Globemaster, civilian charters)
Mass of cargo moved (pounds)	5,265,592
Passengers carried	5,447
Health care
Patients treated by 1 Cdn Fd Hosp Role 2 (Léogâne)	4,922
Patients treated by DART Role 1 (Jacmel)	10,111
Patients treated by DART Role 1 (Port-au-Prince)	438
Patients treated by ships' medical teams (Léogâne, Jacmel)	1,261
Patients treated by Village Medical Outreach teams	5,558
Total patients treated by JTFH	22,290
Water purification
Potable water produced (litres)	2,890,988
Potable water distributed (litres)	2,585,077
Distribution of humanitarian aid (provided by aid agencies)
Individual meals	1,404,940
Non-food items (hygiene kits, cooking kits, tents, mattresses etc.)	14,668
Security tasks related to distribution of humanitarian aid
Platoon-sized security teams	198
Convoy escorts	31