When an emergency strikes, Operation USA is often one of the first professional responders, on the ground with medical supplies, water, purification equipment, shelter materials and trauma teams. Our inaugural airlift in 1979 went to Malaysia and then onwards by boat to Pulau Bidong Island in the South China Sea, carrying vital medical supplies to 44,000 Vietnamese “Boat People” refugees living in squalid conditions. This was followed by over 55 major airlifts, totaling over $250 million in aid, to dozens of countries. As emergencies continue to make the headlines, hundreds of American corporations continue to donate supplies to Operation USA for air and sea shipments to affected areas.

In 1979, Operation USA became the first American relief agency licensed by the U.S. government to work directly in Vietnam and Cambodia. Since then, we have assisted 90 countries and, unfortunately, every year we are responding to more countries in need. Operation USA distributes donated materials primarily to those who are overlooked by the larger aid organizations: refugees, women, widows and orphans. Our process is equitable and we have a strict policy of only sending materials that are immediately needed, distributed free of charge which will be used effectively. As a result, we are often asked by corporations to be “ambassadors” of their products at disaster sites.

To view our video of the Operation USA Tsunami rapid relief airlift to Jakarta, Indonesia, please click here.

Care for mental health is often overlooked during the acute phase of a disaster, but Operation USA understands the importance of its role in helping people to cope both immediately and long after the emergency has subsided.

Sri Lanka. Tsunami, 2005.Operation USA sent three teams of trauma and counseling professionals to the region. They conducted an immediate needs assessment through interviews with internally displaced persons and local non-governmental organizations to decide the most efficient way to immediately facilitate mental health training programs - specifically designed to help children. For more information about this project, please click here.

El Salvador, Earthquake, 2003. Building on the success of the program in Peru, we again sent a physiologist from UCLA to train trainers in trauma counseling.

Southern Peru. Earthquake, 2001. A physiologist from UCLA trained trainers in trauma counseling.

Taiwan . Earthquake, 1999. A psychologist from UCLA trained trainers in trauma counseling.

Kosovo Refugees, Albania. Ethnic Violence, 1999. OpUSA sent a thirty member medical team and medical supplies to help refugees.