Humanitarian aid mission in East Timor: Experiences of U.S. naval medical services

The U.S. military was actively involved in humanitarian aid throughout the world for much of the 20th century and is likely to continue in this role well into the 21st century. During the recent Western Pacific Deployment, we were called on to provide assistance to the local population in East Timor in what is called a humanitarian assistance operation. This article explores this increasingly important role of military medicine and is written in hopes of providing insight to future teams planning altruistic deployments to underserved countries. The spectrum of topics covered includes personnel, equipment, supplies, resources, and the type of medical needs that were met. This information may also be useful as a reference for military and nonmilitary health care workers who find themselves assisting people and nations in need.