WPAFB, Ohio -- Members of the 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are now helping evacuate the sick and wounded from New Orleans.

The 445th Airlift Wing often flies to Iraq and Afghanistan to pickup and transport sick and wounded soldiers. This time, their mission is helping civilians in the United States.

The Aeronautical Evacuation Team was contacted less than 24 hours ago asking for nine members that consist of four flight nurses and five aeronautical technicians.

On Thursday morning, the inside of a C-141 cargo plan was reorganized so it could handle as many as 140 patients. The crew left to fly to the New Orleans Airport.

The aircraft will then fly to Dallas-Fort Worth, where the patients will then be taken to a hospital. The crew does not know how sick or injured their patients will be.

However, they are prepared to handle anything from critical injuries to people on ventilators and even babies.

The C-141 took off from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base at 5:30 a.m. Thursday.