Haiti departure....

Largest Utah medical group heads to Haiti
Reported by: Brent Hunsaker
Last Update: 5:09 pm



Helping Hands (Associated Press (ABC News)) SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The largest Utah contingent yet left Thursday afternoon for Haiti. Medical and construction equipment and supplies were loaded onto a charter jet along with 110 people. The personnel can be divided into four basic groups: Medical professionals, contractors and construction workers, interrupters and security.

A couple hours before departure, the task force members assembled in a hanger at Salt Lake International Airport. They collected supplies they will need for the mission -- blankets, "meals ready to eat" and even a cell phone with a hand crank to charge the battery. Just about all they will need to survive over the next three weeks is stuffed into a backpack and carried onto the aircraft.

The task force members come from different background and have different skills, but they are all united by an uncommon determination to render aid no matter the cost. Gaylinn Breeze, a Registered Nurse from West Jordan said, "It's kind of a calling. It couldn't come at a worse time in my life, but they're in a lot worse situation than we are." David Burnell, Chief of Task Force Security said, "I really firmly believe that God is watching us right now. Probably what is viewed as the least desirable people on the plant earth have been afflicted. Why are they the least desirable? Not because of anything they've done, but because they're the most impoverished people ... Now they've been hit again. What are we going to do? He's watching real close. And he's watching our hearts."

This is just the first of what organizers hope will be several flights to Haiti. They say they already have volunteers and supplies enough to fill those flights, but they lack the money to charter the jet.