'Smoke and mirrors': Critics lambast Navy hospital ship sent to New York for treating only 20 patien

[SunSeeker]

Source: Washington Post

Link to tweet

“Taunting cruelty.” “An abomination.” “Smoke and mirrors.”

Such were the choice words many on social media had Thursday for the U.S.N.S. Comfort, a much-hyped Navy ship sent to Manhattan to relieve the city’s overburdened hospitals as they grapple with the coronavirus.

Yet of 1,000 available beds aboard the vessel, the New York Times revealed, only three patients had actually been allowed onboard. Strict rules were meant to keep coronavirus patients — or people with one of 49 other medical conditions — from being treated onboard, where an outbreak could spread quickly.

Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, pointed out that a nearly identical situation played out after Hurricane Maria. The Comfort, sent to relieve the U.S. territory’s hospitals, only treated a few patients daily.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/04/02/coronavirus-latest-news/#link-2KN5TV6M6BBMPH2FWFGAVUABEY

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"Cold Comfort"

[msongs]

1. pls don't tell me it was stunt for a trump photo op at sailing time... nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Sorry. It was a stunt for a tRump photo op. . . . nt

[ProfessorGAC]

8. It's Even Worse Than That

They made such fanfare over the ship that it's arrival attracted substantial crowds, so may have exacerbated the health hazard.
I'm still steamed that people who live right by a harbor needed to gather to see a boat. There's a hundred there every damned day.

[Igel]

12. It is, but it's systemic.

This wasn't new.

If reporters, instead of jumping on the bandwagon (okay, instead of building the bandwagon and then staffing it) had read the fine print it would have been clear.

Even what *was* said undermines some of the claims.

The ships are for some non-COVID cases that the hospitals cannot handle.

Non-COVID. A lot of people assumed otherwise. That means, first off, if you test positive for COVID, it's a no-go. And to test positive requires taking a sample and *then* having it processed. That's not just a few minutes, those tests aren't available yet. You wouldn't want 500 people on the ship being told they were all exposed to SARS-CoV-2 as part of their treatment.

Some. Not all. The ships, they said up front, are built for certain kinds of cases.

That the hospitals cannot handle. Who decides this? The patient? The EMT? The mayor? No. The hospital.

In the PR reporting it was said that the hospitals were so overwhelmed that they didn't have time to sort through the regulations and process the paperwork necessary to transfer patients. If a hospital tries to send the wrong kind, then they'll be bounced.

Thing about a bandwagon, it goes by and as it does so you cheer. You don't have time to stop and think. Then you realize what you cheered wasn't really what you thought you were cheering.

[lark]

9. That's exactly what this is.

Hes too stupid and incompetent to actually provide real help, just a ship that does absolutely nothing. That way he thinks it gives hm leeway to continue to dog Cuomo for doing his job and trying to save the people of NYC while drumpf is trying to kill them because they despise him for good reason and he knows it so well.

[roamer65]

2. God forbid it would interrupt the revenue stream of the NYC hospitals.

I have a feeling that is why it is serving so few patients.

It’s all about money.

[SunSeeker]

3. It's all about show.

Trump got his photo op sending the ship off.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Bottom line!

[3Hotdogs]

5. The decision makes sense. The ship is equiped to handle everything but outbreaks.

So, send your car accidents, heart attacks, appendix, gall bladder and such to the ship and keep them away from C-19 patients.

This was discussed in a thread, yesterday.

[Chemisse]

6. So NYC has only had 3 people have non-virus emergencies since the ship arrived?

The decision makes sense, but the numbers don't.

[lark]

10. There's 49 conditions they aren't allowed to treat.

There is the rub, drumpf made sure they would provide zero real help because he just wants to give a show, not an actual helping hand.

[Owl]

13. Wonder what those 49 conditions are.

[lark]

14. Everything common I'd guess since they've only taken 3 cases.

Heard about a heart attack victim the ship wouldn't take so that appears to excluded. How stupid and ineffetive and almost a punking of NY. They did this on purpose, he is trying to kill us.

[SunSeeker]

18. This ship was designed to handle war injuries. So it is pretty useless right now.

NY has very few trauma patients right now. Everyone is staying home, so there are few accidents or injuries.

[Cozmo]

11. 'I'm the Last Thing Standing Between You and the Apocalypse'

[JohnnyRingo]

15. I think I understand why this happened.

I'm not an expert on ships, viruses, or law, but I can see how a ship might be a bad place to try to treat & control CV. Infection of personnel could be amplified in the confined spaces below decks. Hospital ships are probably best suited to trauma victims found in global disasters and war.

Meanwhile, hospitals are refusing elective surgeries and no one with another breath to take will go near one right now. With stay at home orders violent crime has to be way off. I imagine it's tough to even find a place to rob or a victim to mug in NYC.

[hydrolastic]

16. The Comfort is not there to help the hospital system

It's there to control the situation if the hospital system is overwhelmed. The comfort is not going to treat anyone until the system breaks down. The fact that it is there means someone is worried... Hydro

[SunSeeker]

17. But it won't treat Covid-19 patients no matter what happens.

All it seems to have been sent to do is treat Trump's public image.