A military field hospital based out of CFB Petawawa will be deployed to Haiti as early as this weekend to offer medical treatment to earthquake victims desperate for care.
The field hospital operates out of a tent and is fully equipped with an intensive care unit and up to 50 beds. It will be staffed by a team of about 100 surgeons, nurses and medics.
Military officials say the hospital acts like any other trauma centre in Canada, and has the capacity to do laboratory testing and diagnostic imaging. It will be powered by its own generators.
The military is currently on four hours notice, and is ready to deploy to Haiti as soon as the federal government orders their departure.
The aid comes at a time when earthquake survivors are still battling injuries and looking for treatment more than a week after the 7.0-magnitude quake.
Many hospitals in the disaster zone toppled in the earthquake, and those still standing are full to capacity with patients needing care.
Canada already has a 16-member medical team in Jacmel, located about 40 kilometres south of Port-au-Prince. Medics there treated almost 100 patients on Wednesday.
With files from The Canadian Press
