NORFOLK, Virginia (AP):
A converted oil tanker commissioned to serve the medical needs of the United States Navy is bound for the Caribbean and Central and South America, where the crew will provide medical care to 85,000 patients in 12 countries.
The USNS Comfort shoved off Friday from a pier at Norfolk Naval Station on the ship's first foreign humanitarian mission. The Baltimore, Maryland-based ship had been docked in Norfolk since May 31 for final preparations.
The 800-member crew includes about 500 medical personnel specialising in disciplines including general, plastic, paediatric and oral surgeries.
Lasting contributions
"This deployment provides an opportunity for us to work together with countries in the region to make a lasting contribution across our hemisphere," said Administrator. James G. Stavridis, who heads the U.S. Southern Command. "Comfort's mission will reach far beyond the patients we will see each day."
The Comfort is expected to be deployed through September and will visit Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
The mission is part of Partnership of the Americas 2007, an effort to improve relations with Latin American countries and the navy's readiness in the region, said Capt. Bruce Boynton, commanding officer of the Comfort's medical corps.
Members of the U.S. Army, Air Force and Coastguard are on board for training.
The Comfort will spend about a week either in port or anchored off the shore of each country it visits.
"We match our capabilities to what people need," Boynton said. "We can do primary care at sites throughout the country. Others are brought on board."
The ship can accommodate up to 1,000 patients at once, including 80 in intensive care. It has 12 operating rooms and four X-ray rooms.
Cataract surgery, gallbladder removal, knee repairs, hernias and scar removal are expected to be the most common procedures, Boynton said. The crew is unable to perform extensive surgeries such as transplants and heart bypasses.
