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USNS Comfort Begins Work in Haiti, Prepares To Expand Medical Capability
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy hospital ship, USNS COMFORT (T-AH 20), arrived off the coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Jan. 20 and began receiving injured patients from the local hospitals and international medical facilities currently in Haiti.
The ship deployed from its homeport in Baltimore Jan. 16 with an overall crew of 850 that included a medical team comprised of 550 medical and non-medical support staff, including Navy doctors, nurses, corpsmen, technicians and support staff ready to provide a host of medical services including primary care, trauma care, pediatric care, orthopedic care and more.
The embarked medical support team will be augmented by 350 additional team members who are scheduled to arrive on board the ship in the next few days. With the additional medical staff, the hospital ship will have the capability to increase available beds from its current configuration of 250 -- set up during the ship's transit -- to nearly 1,000, including 880 ward beds, 80 intensive care unit beds and 20 post anesthesia care unit beds.
The augmented medical staff will also enable Comfort to expand its operating room capability from 6 to 11. A twelfth operating room is specifically designed to support advanced interventional radiology procedures.
The ship will initially receive urgent surgical patients. Patients transported to the hospital ship will have a family member escort, if available. After treatment, the ship's medical personnel will determine the patient's follow-on care. Additionally, medical teams from the hospital ship will move ashore to help in casualty evaluation and are prepared to triage crush wounds and burn injuries and other health issues.
Comfort is part of a larger United States response to the government of Haiti request for humanitarian assistance. The U.S. effort is being coordinated by the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development.
Comfort was last in Haiti in April 2009 for 12 days as part of Continuing Promise 2009.
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Despatching a world class hospital ship like USN Comfort is becoming and befitting a world class power. US has always responded bravely and generously in dire situations like the natural disaster that Hatians are unfortunately going through. Experience of the US armed forces in helping the less fortunate people of many contries in the world including Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka Phillipine will remain as shining beacons in the annals of the US history. I most sincerely hope that US will lift its embargo over help needed in Ghaza too. God Bless America.
Despatching a world class hospital ship like USN Comfort is becoming and befitting a world class power. US has always responded bravely and generously in dire situations like the natural disaster that Hatians are unfortunately going through. Experience of the US armed forces in helping the less fortunate people of many contries in the world including Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka Phillipine will remain as shining beacons in the annals of the US history. I most sincerely hope that US will lift its embargo over help needed in Ghaza too. God Bless America.
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I work at a school in Charleston, SC. We would like to send some items to the nurses and staff of this ship in Haiti as a school-wide project. Can someone contact us so we can obtain an address or way of sending items? Thank You, Star-Shema (Harris) Jeter Daniel Jenkins Academy 2670 Bonds Ave North Charleston, SC 29405 PH: 843-747-6609 FX: 843-746-7438 www.ccsdschools.com Where Excellence is Our Standard! "The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy". Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.