When calamity on the level of Haiti's earthquake strikes, the first U.S. responders bear a heavy load. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, Navy sailors, Coast Guardsmen and professional urban rescue teams will be some of the first to save lives amid the rubble.The first ones on the scene will be the Coast Guard
. They have the rescue training and equipment to deliver help quickly. (After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Coast Guard helicopters were plucking victims from roofs while the rest of the military was still mobilizing.) Four large Coast Guard ships—a 210-foot Reliance-class cutter and three 270-foot medium Endurance-class cutters—left Miami today, bound for Haiti. These cutters conduct routine patrols in the Caribbean, hunting smugglers who transport drugs and illegal immigrants, and rescuing people in distress. Each ship is equipped with helicopters ready for sling rescues and small boats that can reach places with little infrastructure. Perhaps most importantly, the ships have water desalination equipment that could help stave off disease in the quake's aftermath.
A C-130 cargo airplane also flew into Haiti from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater in Florida. Since the airport in Port-au-Prince is open, this cargo hauler will be vital in shipping
Next to arrive will be urban rescue teams from Florida, Virginia and California. These states have some of the best rescuers in the nation—those from Florida and California are disaster-hardened, and the team in Virginia must prepare for potential terrorist attacks that could topple buildings. Each state's team consists of 36 people, for a total of 108 people tasked with rescuing millions. But even the United States' largest humanitarian asset, the U.S. Navy Ship Comfort, will likely be overwhelmed.
The crew of the Comfort, one of the Navy's two 894-foot-long hospital ships, is now rushing to the ship, ported in Baltimore, to sail for Haiti. A small crew of civil service mariners and Navy medical personnel maintains the ship in a high state of readiness, so it can become fully operational in five days. The ship's medical treatment facility only has a total bed capacity of 1000, so the Navy medics will likely work at secured field hospitals on shore.
The Navy hospital ship will be joined in Haiti by the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. The carrier's crew of more than 3000 had been at sea for just hours, leaving Norfolk, Va., for its new home port in San Diego, when the call came to reroute to Haiti. The massive craft can launch helicopters loaded with supplies, make and deliver fresh water and, if need be, augment hospital space by pitching aid tents on its flight deck.