USNS Comfort Departs for Puerto Rico

[nitpicker]

Source: navy.mil

USNS Comfort Departs for Puerto Rico

Story Number: NNS170929-18Release Date: 9/29/2017 4:46:00 PM

From Military Sealift Command Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- The Military Sealift Command hospital ship, USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), departed Naval Station Norfolk today and is now underway and making final preparations to support relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. USNS Comfort can arrive in Puerto Rico as early as Oct. 3, but the final date and arrival location is to be determined. "The medical capability the ship can deliver can be done underway, it can be done in port, or it can be done at anchor. Between the helicopter capability we have and the boats we have, all of those things together give us the ability to be flexible in our mission," said Capt. Kevin Robinson, commander, forward command element aboard USNS Comfort.

USNS Comfort departed Naval Station Norfolk with over 800 Navy medical personnel and support staff with the medical treatment facility (MTF), and over 70 civil service mariners. The medical personnel will provide a full spectrum of medical care to include general practice, family medicine, nephrology and pediatrics. The civil service mariners operate and navigate the ship, load and off-load mission cargo, assist with repairs to mission equipment and provide essential services to keep the MTF up and running.
(snip)

"48 hours ago there were less than 100 people onboard this ship that included civilian mariners and medical treatment facility personnel. Over the past 36 hours, we have flown medical professionals and their support personnel from all over the country and the number of people onboard right now is over 800," said Robinson.

Comfort's MTF is an embarked crew of medical personnel from the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery responsible for operating and maintaining one of the largest trauma facilities in the United States.
(snip)



Read more: http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=102666

[pansypoo53219]

1. it left NOW???

[Judi Lynn]

2. It's a horror story. They should have been dispatched so long ago. n/t

[Throck]

3. Sometimes these ships are in the reserve fleet.

Takes a minimum of two weeks to raise crew, fuel, load with perishable supplies and check, inspect, test all the mechanical, medical, refrigeration, navagitional, electric systems that will save lives. This ship is also a long term hospital critical care ship.

[mpcamb]

20. Two Weeks?? I don't buy that!

Relief has been stalled and it's not an accident!

[Throck]

21. The specific ship, subject of the OP.

Otherwise, alternate ships and planes already in service should have been used. Plenty of amphibious ships in Mayport and Little Creek could have been pressed into service.

They could have chartered some cruise ships. They make their own water and can feed thousands, unfortunately not under US flag ownership.

[mn9driver]

4. Normal lag time for the Comfort after receiving orders is 3 to 5 days.

The order didn't come until Wednesday evening. That is on the Trumpsters.

The crew of the Comfort did an amazing job to get the ship ready and load it with medical personnel and perishable supplies, not to mention fuel and food, in only 48 hours.

[Squinch]

5. A fucking week and a half later.

[Towlie]

6. More than that. Don't forget that the damage was predicted days before the storm actually hit.

[Squinch]

7. Yep. I wish for Trump and the Republicans that they experience the same amount

of anguish that they have inflicted upon other people.

[bdamomma]

13. me too

they are not privileged by any means.

[Vermijelli]

8. Had it departed much earlier, it could have sailed right into Maria

Maria was still sitting off of the Carolinas (and Norfolk) until very recently. And before that, no one knew with certainty where it was going.

[Kaleva]

9. The USS Kearsarge skirted around 3 hurricanes enroute to PR

Arriving there the day after Maria hit the island. And that's just one ship out of many that did that.

[Vermijelli]

14. Kearsarge is more capable of doing that

Comfort has nearly twice the tonnage, half the horsepower, and is 7kts slower. It's much less maneuverable. Also, Maria was still quite powerful storm and larger after leaving PR and her track was perfect for creating concerns for any slower ship wanting to depart Norfolk for the Caribbean.

And as others have pointed out over the last week, the utility of USNS Comfort is debatable when it cannot dock, while the Kearsarge and similar ships have very good medical capabilities in their own right while having their own logistical assets to get people in and out of medical quickly.

[Kaleva]

17. The USNS Comfort can take on patients underway, anchored or docked.

In the relief effort for Haiti, the ship was very useful. She was taking on patients before arriving and anchoring off the coast of Port-au-Prince.

"Comfort departed its homeport in Baltimore Jan. 16, and arrived three-and-a-half days later and immediately began supporting humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti. Prior to anchoring off the coast of Port-au-Prince Jan. 20, Comfort was already receiving patients in transit via airlift. During portions of the relief effort, nearly 1,300 medical personnel from the U.S. military and various non governmental organizations (NGOs) were embarked and treating earthquake survivors.

Medical personnel aboard Comfort performed 843 surgeries during their mission in Haiti. According to the ship's Director of Surgery, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Tim Donohue, Comfort had more than 540 critically injured patients on board within the first 10 days. During the initial phase of its mission, the ship ran 10 operating rooms at full capacity to care for severely injured earthquake survivors. The ships medical crew also delivered nine infants during the relief mission."

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=51807

[Skittles]

12. is that from the Fox News fairy?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/09/26/clinton-pressured-trump-to-deploy-hospital-ship-comfort-to-puerto-rico-now-its-on-the-way/?utm_term=.f743ce717027

[Vermijelli]

15. Maybe it's from the El Faro logbook.

[Skittles]

16. HILLARY HAD TO TELL HIM WHAT TO DO

THE MAN DOESN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ANYONE WHO DOESN'T KISS HIS BLOATED ORANGE ASS

AND THIS WAS *AFTER* MARIA HAD PASSED

EDUCATE YOURSELF

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/26/16349644/puerto-rico-humanitarian-crisis

[Calista241]

10. The Navy already has 3 amphibious ships there doing the same thing

Somehow I doubt the Comfort will provide any needed services when it finally get there.

Pure PR move at this point.

[Yonnie3]

11. Information about the Comfort.

Here is a write up of the ship's capabilities and some of its shortcomings.

https://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.asp?ship_id=USNS-Comfort-TAH20

It seems that you can only get patients on board if the ship is docked, anchored next to another ship, or via helicopter (about two dozen at a time in a large one). There seems to be no capabilities to take them on board from smaller launches. You have to take patients up on deck to move them from one compartment to another.

It is certainly better than nothing, but it's a dinosaur.

[Kaleva]

18. According to this article, the ship can take on patients from small boats

"The ship typically anchors offshore and takes aboard patients ferried to the vessel by helicopter or small boats. "

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-puertorico-comfort/u-s-navy-to-deploy-hospital-ship-comfort-to-hurricane-battered-puerto-rico-idUSKCN1C3053

[Yonnie3]

19. Yes, but it is difficult.

The more modern ships have a well dock. Small boats just pull up and dock. Comfort doesn't have one. My cousin, an ex-lifer in the Navy, mentioned the small boat issue. He is retired and works as a civilian in Naval Command. His specialty is logistics and capabilities. You can read some discussion of this in the comments following this article.

https://news.usni.org/2017/09/26/fema-hospital-ship-usns-comfort-prepares-depart-puerto-rico

[Kaleva]

22. A former CO of the USS Kearsarge says that the hospital ships have better medical facilities

"Belliveau: The Wasp-class ships have medical facilities second only to hospital ships in size and capability. To what extent have your ship's facilities been used for treating combat-wounded personnel or for humanitarian purposes?

Captain McKnight: While it is true the medical capabilities of ships like the Kearsarge are bested only by the hospital ships,..."

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,NI_Kearsarge_0403,00.html

Frankly, I don't know why some have the opinion that the USNS Comfort is of little use, 2nd rate and really shouldn't have been sent to PR while the service records of the USNS Comfort an her sister ship show that they are the best in the world at what they are designed to do and that is being floating, mobile hospitals.

[Yonnie3]

23. I don't think it will be of little use.

It is an asset that greatly increases the medical capabilities for PR relief. My only point is that there are constraints on its use, that some don't seem to recognize.

If it can be docked it can be much more efficient than anchored offshore.

[Kaleva]

24. In the initial stages of disaster relief, efficiency isn't a top concern.

The USNS Comfort has capabilities that no other ship can match. It's designed to be a floating hospital that can take on patients while underway, at anchor or in port.

In a way, the use of warships such as the USS Kearsarge for disaster relief is also inefficient as these ships have weapons systems which are of no use in such a role and the ships are designed to robust enough take a certain amount of enemy hits and still stay afloat and keep on fighting. A capability not needed in PR.

So while it's not efficient uses of resources to use combat ships for relief aid, we still do it because time is of the essence as people's lives are at stake and we send what we got.