Region responds to Haiti's 'stunning pain' (PHOTOS)

The earthquake disaster in Haiti has become an up-close reality for one local physican.

Tom McKnight, a family doctor at the Hurlburt Field clinic and a retired Air Force colonel, arrived in Port-au-Prince Sunday with a team of medical personnel and volunteers working with Heartline Ministries, a Haiti-based group that runs orphanages in the capital city.

Click here to see a photo gallery of McKnight's ministry in action.

Click here to read about Dr. Tom McKnight's work in Haiti

"They are located west of Port-au-Prince," said Steve Hall, a friend of McKnight's who helped him raise cash and gather medical supplies to take to Haiti. "Basically, it's an orphanage where they've set up a field hospital.

McKnight, who is from Freeport, has been treating a steady flow of injured children and adults, from those with minor cuts to those who require major surgery, according to the Haiti Blog at www.heartlineministries.org.

"The thing he keeps mentioning in every e-mail is ... the character of the Haitian people, their dignity," Hall said. "They have to be in just stunning pain and they're just quietly waiting in line."

Hall said McKnight is asking for supporters to continue to donate money for relief efforts.

"He just e-mailed today, and the cost of diesel and medical supplies has just gone crazy," he said. "They're trying to keep their generator running."

Hall said McKnight, who has participated in many medical missions to Haiti through the years, has two adopted Haitian children.

"Tom was made for this moment," Hall said. "He's like an arrow that's been sharpened up for this target."

Hall and McKnight became friends as members of First United Methodist Church in Niceville where they are part of a men's accountability group that meets weekly for breakfast at Waffle House in Bluewater Bay.

"They're my best friends," Hall said. "It's one of those groups where we just try to keep each other straight."

Hall said McKnight turned to the group for help in raising $10,000 in cash - the most you can take into the country - and collecting medical supplies to take to Haiti.

"He said, 'Look, I need small bills!'" Hall said. "We got everything from beef jerky and power bars to I.V. drips and surgical gowns and gloves to suture kits. It was field hospital stuff."

Hall said he has been astounded by the donations from the Niceville community and other areas along the Emerald Coast.

"You wouldn't believe the generosity," he said. "People have a pent-up need to help. Thy look at (the earthquake victims) and they feel helpless."

To view photos of Hurlburt airmen in Haiti, click here.

This report comes from Senior Airman David Salanitri with the Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs.

Special-operations Airmen from Hurlburt Field, Fla., hit the ground sprinting earlier last week, kicking off the U.S. Southern Command's overall Haiti humanitarian mission.
The Airmen have performed a wide range of missions to include medical support, airfield management and weather observation in the devastated country, which suffered a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and numerous aftershocks.

"We arrived the first evening with three U.S. aircraft. Within 28 minutes we established command and control, airfield management, and were able to land aircraft that night," said Col. "Buck" Elton, Joint Special Operations Task Force commander. "On a typical day, the Port-au-Prince airport lands about three aircraft. Since we landed Wednesday, over 600 aircraft have landed and taken off."

As of Friday, Haitian air controllers returned to duty, providing long range control while the combat controllers prioritized incoming aircraft, directed landings and take offs while balancing confined parking ramp space.

According to a factsheet released by Air Force South officials, the Haiti Flight Operations Coordination Center has been created to oversee the efficient arrival, off-load and departure of military and civilian relief efforts to provide much-needed aid to the Haitian people.

All aircraft delivering aid will be allowed to land on a prioritized basis. Priorities and landing times are determined by the Government of Haiti in consultation with the United States government and the UN Mission in Haiti based on current needs.

"By using the slot system, we have been able to maximize the number of relief supplies the airport has been able to take in," Colonel Elton said. "We have it so that when one aircraft departs, another takes its place."

So far, more than 600,000 humanitarian daily food rations have been distributed throughout Haiti, along with water and hygiene kits.

"We're diligently working with the Haitian government to prioritize distribution sites," said Mr. Tim Callahan, the senior regional adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean in the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. "Hygiene kits are becoming more and more important, preventing further medical symptoms from occurring."

On Jan. 16, Air Force Special Operations Command pararescuemen along with Search and Rescue members from Arlington, Va., pulled a 25-year-old Haitian female from the rubble at the university. It took them 28 hours to rescue her. She was treated by 1st Special Operations Medical Group surgeons.

Joint international work has been the underlining theme in the Haiti humanitarian mission.

"International search and rescue teams have rescued 61 people as of Sunday afternoon," Mr. Callahan said. "Out of the 61 people rescued 29 we're rescued by U.S. joint teams."

"Seeing the teams on the ground digging people out and making rescues is very powerful," Mr. Callahan said.

"I'm proud of all the quiet professionals who are deployed here," Colonel Elton said.