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10 photos show what it's like aboard a US Navy floating hospital that is providing medical care to thousands of South Americans
10 photos show what it's like aboard a US Navy floating hospital that is providing medical care to thousands of South Americans
Caitlin FosterDec 1, 2018, 01:21 IST
The USNS Comfort shown underway on its deployment to Central and South America. The ship is expected to see nearly one thousand patients per day, providing much-needed care in the region.US Navy
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The US hospital ship USNS Comfort anchored off the coast of Colombia during its deployment to Central and South America, where it will see an estimated 750 patients per day.
The Comfort departed Norfolk, Virginia on October 10 for Operation Enduring Promise. By the mission's completion in December, the ship will have seen patients in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Honduras. This is the ship's sixth mission in the region. On previous deployments, the ship has provided medical care for as many as 390,000 patients, according to the Navy's press release.
Here's how the ship's crew provides care to their foreign patients.
The Navy works with the host nation's health services, coordinating shore-based facilities where the ship's crew will screen patients and provide more basic levels of care
The crew began screening patients in Riohacha, Colombia on November 24, two days before the official opening of its shore-based facility at a local high school.
Some patients are receiving care that they otherwise would not be able to afford.
According to a Reuters report, Colombia has received about one million Venezuelan migrants, which has added strain to an already beleaguered healthcare system.
The crew of the Comfort can provide check-ups and more basic care on land, but patients requiring surgery must be flown via helicopter to the ship.
The ship's crew wait to receive their patients from a UH-60 Black Hawk
While at anchor, the Navy estimates the ship's doctors will perform 20 surgeries per day.
After surgery, the patients will rest before being transported back to shore via helicopter.
Patients are outfitted with helmets and inflatable life preservers before heading out to the ship's flight deck.
Patients load into an MH-60 Sea Hawk to be flown back to shore.
