Medical professionals aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) treat a six-year-old Haitian boy in the casualty receiving room aboard the 1,000-bed hospital ship. The boy transferred to Comfort by helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) for treatment for an injury to his bladder and a hip fracture during an earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan 12. The boy is in the intensive care unit aboard Comfort in stable condition. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Chelsea Kennedy

The USNS Comfort lived up to its name today as the medics and crew of the hospital ship continued to provide medical aid to the residents of this devastated land.

In short, it was a very busy day as the medics tended to some of the most challenging cases caused by the magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Jan. 12. By mid-afternoon today, more than 160 Haitian patients were admitted to the floating hospital.

Surgeries were performed almost around the clock. There were nine yesterday — the first day — with the last finished at 4:30 this morning. The operating room personnel began work again two hours later.

The intensive care units and wards were beginning to fill to capacity of 1,000 beds. “We have never had that number on the ship, but we can do it,” Navy Dr. (Capt.) Jim Ware, the medical group commander, said.

More medical professionals are arriving, and all are highly motivated. “We had critical care nurses show up today, and after they signed in, they put their scrubs on and went to work,” said Command Master Chief Chip Collins, the Comfort’s top enlisted sailor. “They said, ‘I can put my stuff away later. Where do you need me?’”

Two medical professionals aboard the USNS Comfort hospital ship treat a Haitian woman in the casualty receiving portion of the ship, Jan. 21, 2010, off the coast of Haiti. DoD photo by Jim Garamone

And the help is needed. On the main deck, litter bearers bring patients to the casualty receiving area after they are unloaded from helicopters on the flight deck. The elevator door opens and litter bearers come onto the red deck of the receiving area.

“Six,” says Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dan D’Aurora, who “owns” the area. D’Aurora is a nurse and a force of nature. All of the medical personnel in CASREC have their names and ranks printed on surgical tape on their shirts or scrubs. D’Aurora’s shirt has another across the back with the word, “Bulldog.”

The litter bearers bring the litter to Bay 6 where they are met by doctors, nurses and corpsmen who transfer the patient from the litter to the bed. “Get the bed the same height,” says a nurse as corpsmen crank the bed up to transfer the patient. “On three. One, two, three – lift!”

Some patients have breathing tubes and a corpsman presses a bladder to ensure air gets in the patient’s lungs. Other corpsmen and nurses hook the patient to monitors.

The doctor looks at the patient and any records. All check over the patient to ensure some injury hasn’t been overlooked. If X-rays are ordered, a technician brings a portable machine over and the lifting – or turning — process begins again.

Treatment takes many forms. One doctor performed a spinal tap on a young Haitian boy. Another read an X-ray and sent the patient immediately to the operating room. Still another looked to see that the broken leg was set correctly, then sent the patient directly to one of the wards.

Sailors who serve as translators are an integral part of the team. Most were born in Haiti and emigrated to the United States with their families. They are the conduit that doctors and nurses use to communicate with the Haitian patients.

“They have been nothing short of fantastic,” D’Aurora said. “When we were here last year for [Exercise] Continuing Promise, we did half the patients because we couldn’t communicate. We learned.”

While there are some cries of pain, the patients are pretty stoic. “Again, it helps there’s someone there who speaks their language,” D’Aurora said.

There are a number of bays in CASREC, and several times today, they were all filled. The process works quickly and smoothly and is getting smoother as the medics gain experience.

“This isn’t ‘ER,’” said Navy Dr. (Cmdr.) Tim Donahue, the chief of surgery. “People work quietly and quickly. This is real life. Not TV.”

The medics sometimes move quickly. “Running man!” yells one corpsman as a nurse comes into CASREC at a full sprint with needed equipment.

The patients come in all shapes, sizes and ages. A baby was born on the Comfort today. Both mother and daughter are doing well.

In another bay, Charlene, who is five, hugs a teddy bear she received when she got to the ship. She has a bandage on her left foot, but medics are concerned about her sight. Navy Dr. (Capt.) Terence McGee places eye drops in to dilate her pupils. She is a brave young lady as the doctor looks in her eyes. When he finishes the examination, she begins to cry so he picks her up. He asks if she has an escort – her mom or dad – and is told no.

“Five years old and alone,” he says, and continues to rock her back and forth.

DoD
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

COMFORT is capable of providing a full hospital service asset for use by other government agencies involved in the support of relief and humanitarian operations worldwide.

Here’s a little bit about USNS Comfort, currently heading to Haiti:

The Navy hospital ship, USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), homeported in Baltimore, deployed Jan. 16 to support the relief efforts in Haiti’s capital along with USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and USS Bataan (LHD 5). A medical team of 550 Navy doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff will provide a host of medical services to include primary care, trauma care, pediatric care and orthopedic care upon arrival in Haiti. The medical team is comprised of Navy medical personnel stationed at National Navy Medical Center Bethesda and Naval Hospital Portsmouth.

The 894-foot ship has a full spectrum of hospital services to support disaster relief efforts. It has one of the largest trauma facilities in the United States and has four X-rays, one CAT scan unit, an MRI unit, a dental suite, a pharmacy and an optometry and lens laboratory. The ship also maintains up to 5,000 units of blood and can serve as many as 1,000 patients.

US Navy

As the hospital ship USNS Comfort continues its race south to Haiti, sailors aboard the vessel race to get the facilities ready for the expected patients.

The Comfort, bulling its way through stormy seas, will receive another 350 medical personnel and support staff when it reaches the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, Navy Capt. (Dr.) Jim Ware, commander of the medical treatment facility. This, he explained, will allow the staff to double the number of operating rooms.

The staff wants 11 operating rooms ready upon arrival in Port-au-Prince, expected to be Jan. 21. “We will set up all 11, but only have the people to man eight until the other personnel come in,” said Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Tim Donahue, director of surgical services.

The commander said medical personnel have been busy scrubbing the rooms and readying supplies. Medics exercised casualty-receiving procedures this afternoon, and will continue to do so.

The Comfort set sail less than four days after receiving orders. Getting medical supplies for the mission and ensuring that the systems on the ship worked continued right up to yesterday’s departure from Baltimore.

The ship was brought to life from “a cold start,” Ware said. Contractors were aboard working on generators up to the morning of departure. Once the ship was underway, plumbers still were turning on the water in berthing spaces, and information technology specialists were working to bring the Internet up as the ship headed out of the Chesapeake Bay.

The medical effort is aided by the fact that the Comfort was in Haiti on a humanitarian services exercise in April. “We know the area, we know many of the people in the Ministry of Health, and that helps,” Donahue said. In addition, many medical specialists aided in the tsunami relief operation and for the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina.

Another help is that some aboard the Comfort are from Haiti. Petty Officer 3rd Class Yves Henry is a corpsman at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia who was called up to help man the ship. “I’m proud to be in the Navy, and proud to be able to go and help,” he said.

Henry is worried about family and friends in Port-au-Prince. “I heard that my grandmother is all right,” Henry said. “I’m anxious to get there and help.”

Henry may be a translator for the medical department. Announcements went out aboard the ship for anyone who speaks Creole or Haitian French. Plans are to hire about 100 translators to assist in the medical effort.

The medical staff is preparing for crush injuries and burn cases, Donahue said. “But we have specialists and equipment here to handle just about anything,” he said.

DoD
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

COMFORT is capable of providing a full hospital service asset for use by other government agencies involved in the support of relief and humanitarian operations worldwide.

It’s pretty amazing that the USNS Comfort is able to do what it does. This ship, now going to Haiti to provide relief for a ravaged country, has a caretaker crew most of the time.

About 80 sailors and another 60 civilian mariners maintain the ship between deployments. The Comfort deploys for scheduled operations about once every two years. The ship came back from a deployment providing humanitarian aid last year.

But the earthquake in Haiti – one of the poorest countries in the world – meant that the ship had to deploy.

The ship needed a full crew. They needed to get the dining facility running and they needed to turn on the water all over the ship. And they needed to ensure there were berths for the medical detachments that poured in from around the Navy.

The scheduled deployments are planned to the nth degree. There are site visits and exchanges with the U.S. embassies and nongovernmental agencies. This deployment is just “grab it and go.”

And the medical staff and crew are doing it. Most of the medical staff comes from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia. But there are force protection sailors and corpsmen from more distant bases. The aviation detachment is from Norfolk, Va.

In many cases, this trip is the first time these sailors have met each other.

There is confusion. The first night, sailors were wandering the passageways – that’s what the Navy calls halls – looking for their bunks. Cargo handlers stacked supplies on the flight deck, knowing it was more important to get underway than it was to have everything perfectly stowed. Just learning everyone’s name took time.

But there has been amazing cooperation among the crew and the medical staff. They understand they have a mission to save lives and everything else is secondary.

That they can work together at all is a testament to their dedication. That they work together so well is a tribute to their military and professional training.

This will be a long deployment, and it will be tough. But it’s been a good beginning.

DoD
(Jim Garamone of American Forces Press Service is reporting and blogging from USNS Comfort during its humanitarian deployment to Haiti.)

Coast Guard Update

The U.S. Coast Guard, the first Department of Homeland Security agency to provide assistance to Haiti following Tuesday’s earthquake, continues to provide support Wednesday to the U.S. Government’s humanitarian assistance and disaster response efforts.The aircrew of a Coast Guard H-60 Jayhawk helicopter medically evacuated four, critically injured U.S. citizens from the U.S. Embassy Wednesday morning and a second medevac of five people was conducted Wednesday afternoon.  The injured were transported to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Guantanomo Bay, Cuba.  Two Coast Guard C-130s are scheduled to arrive Wednesday evening with the ability to evacuate up to 140 personnel to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  Two other Coast Guard C-130s from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., are being prepositioned to Air Station Miami to support the relief efforts.  Among the pending aircraft missions for Coast Guard aircraft is an airlift to Haiti from the U.S. of two Urban Search and Rescue Teams which is being coordinated through U.S. Southern Command.

The Coast Guard Cutter Forward arrived in the waters off Port Au Prince, Haiti, at about 8 a.m., Wednesday and together with Maritime Intelligence Support Team 0410, was able to assess some of the damage caused to the Port Au Prince port.  Coast Guard personnel observed multiple oil and fuel spills as well as possible sewage spills in the area of the port,  about one to one and a half miles from the coast.  They also reported seeing multiple small fires along the shoreline and significant damage to or destruction of infrastructure at the port.

Damage to port infrastructure is reported to include the port’s container crane and other cargo cranes.  Some of the cranes are reported to be completely submerged and others appear damaged but the extent of the damage cannot yet be fully determined.

Overflights of Haiti conducted by two, Coast Guard C-130 aircraft from Air Station St. Petersburg, Fla., revealed much less observable damage along the Northern shore of Haiti than in the area surrounding Port Au Prince.  To view Coast guard video from the overflight click here or go to http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=744801.  To view photos from the overflight and other relief efforts click here or visit http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=77427.

The Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk also arrived in the coastal waters of Haiti Wednesday afternoon.

The Coast Guard Cutters Tahoma and Valiant are slated arrive in Haitian waters Thursday.  The Tahoma is loaded with relief supplies for earthquake survivors.

“When the sun came up this morning in Port au Prince there was a Coast Guard cutter off-shore providing command and control, assessing the situation, providing situational awareness,” said Adm. Thad Allen, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant.  “So within 24 to 36 hours we had three cutters with the capacity to support hundreds if not thousands,” said Allen.

Allen made these remarks during the opening minutes of an address today at the Surface Naval Association conference.  Click here for to see video of Allen’s remarks or go to http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/index.php/2010/01/video-admiral-allen-on-haiti-earthquake-and-relief/.

“We encourage the American people to donate what funds they can afford to disaster relief organizations such as the American Red Cross to allow voluntary relief groups to provide goods and services to disaster survivors in Haiti as quickly as possible,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The Coast Guard Cutter Valiant is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Miami, Fla.

The Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk, a 270-foot medium endurance cutter, is homeported in Key West, Fla.

The Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, N.H.

The Coast Guard Cutter Forward, a 270-foot medium endurance cutter, is  homeported in Portsmouth, Va.

The Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Laramie (T-AO 203) performs an underway replenishment (UNREP) with the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). This is the ship's first UNREP since completing a scheduled refueling complex overhaul at Northrop Grumman Shipbulding. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Third Class Ashley Van Dien/Released)

Massive US Navy surge for Haiti relief

USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) has been ordered to deploy to Haiti to conduct Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response (HA/DR) missions Jan. 13. Currently, Vinson is underway in the Atlantic Ocean, and will briefly loiter off the coast of Mayport to receive equipment and supplies.

Along with Vinson, USS Bataan (LHD 5) embarked with Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU 22), USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), and USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) were ordered to get underway as soon as possible. Additionally, USS Normandy (CG 60), USS Underwood (FFG 36) and USS John L. Hall (FFG 32) will deploy from their homeports and stand ready to assist, while USNS Comfort (T-AH-20), homeported in Baltimore, Md., is preparing to get underway, if required.

A Navy P-3 Orion aircraft from the Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 detachment operating from Cooperative Security Location (CSL) Comalapa, El Salvador, took off early this morning to conduct aerial surveys of the area affected by the earthquake.

USS Higgins (DDG 76) based out of Naval Station San Diego will arrive on station off the coast of Haiti tomorrow to provide afloat logistical services for the Coast Guard helicopters.

Additionally, various units are prepared to provide assistance with sea-based helicopters, to include H-53 Sea Stallions and H-60 Seahawks.

As the Navy component command of U.S. Southern Command, NAVSO’s mission is to direct U.S. Naval forces operating in the Caribbean, Central and South American regions and interact with partner nation navies within the maritime environment. Routine operations include counter-illicit trafficking, theater security cooperation, military-to-military interaction and bilateral and multinational training.

Nations send aid and personnel to Haiti

– Brazil’s Ministry of Defense ordered its U.N. troops in the country to offer whatever assistance they can, Brazil’s official news agency reported.

– China is preparing to send a 50-member rescue team, including three sniffer dogs, the official news agency Xinhua reported. China has 125 peacekeeping police in Haiti, Xinhua reported.

– Spain is sending three planeloads of aid — two from Panama in Central America and one from Madrid, the Spanish capital, CNN affiliate CNN+ reported. Spain is also making 3 million euros ($4.35 million) available for aid and will coordinate the European Union response.

– France, Haiti’s former colonial ruler, dispatched two planeloads of rescue personnel, one from Guadeloupe in the Caribbean and one from Marseilles, France.

– Russia is sending a mobile hospital with a staff of 45, including 20 doctors, Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Elena Chernova told CNN. The mobile hospital “has intensive therapy, surgery, diagnostics, ultra-sound, X-ray, electrocardiogram modules as well as a blood test laboratory,” and can accommodate 50 patients at a time, Chernova said.

– Cuba sent an additional 30 doctors, plus medical supplies, to join the 344 doctors and paramedics it already had working in Haiti on humanitarian missions, said Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.

– Iceland is sending a 37-man search-and-rescue team and offered to help evacuate foreign nationals, its foreign ministry said.

– Canada has a five-man team already in Haiti as part of the U.N. relief efforts there.

– The United Kingdom and Israel also pledged to send survey teams.

MC-130P Combat Shadow

Air Force Special Ops deploy to Haiti

Officials from the 1st Special Operations Wing here deployed two MC-130H Combat Talon IIs from the 15th Special Operations Squadron and one MC-130P Combat Shadow from the 9th Special Operations Squadron Jan. 13 in support of humanitarian operations in Haiti.

The aircraft carried medical personnel, a fly-away security team, and a special tactics team composed of combat controllers, special operations weathermen and pararescuemen.

Further support from 23rd Air Force, 27th Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command, the 1st SOW and the Air Force Reserve’s 919th Special Operations Wing at Duke Field, Fla., will deploy as necessary.

This is the yearly humanitatian effort in Latin America run by the US Navy. Continuing Promise 2008 stories begin here.

Several dozen pallets stretched across a docking area yesterday – a fraction of those waiting to be loaded onto trucks for distribution throughout Haiti – providing a tangible symbol of evolving partnerships officials call key to Continuing Promise 2009′s success.

Navy Capt. Robert G. Lineberry Jr., commodore and tactical commander of the hospital ship USNS Comfort, presided at a ceremonial handover of more than 350 pallets of humanitarian support donated by international aid groups.

Comfort, making the first stop of its four-month humanitarian assistance mission through the region, transported the pallets of 1.4 million meals, medical supplies, blankets, baby wipes and hygiene supplies to Haiti from the United States.

After anchoring about three miles offshore in Port au Prince harbor, April 9, Navy aircrews began ferrying the supplies ashore, sling-loading them from MH-60 Seahawks.

“It was a lot of work,” conceded Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jason Basham, a Navy civil affairs practitioner who helped stage the pallets aboard ship, then offloaded them ashore. “But the feeling I have about this is really good. I met a lot of good people who I know they will do great things with it.

“After all,” he said, “this is all part of enhancing the partnership of the Continuing Promise mission.”

Lineberry praised the partnerships that not only made the deliveries possible, but also are bringing critical skills and support to the Continuing Promise mission.

“Over the last two days, the team onboard Comfort has moved over 350 pallets here into Haiti,” he told a group assembled under a tent to shade them from the hot mid-day sun. “Today, we take time to recognize our great partners who helped us all along the way to make this mission so valuable.”

The first Continuing Promise mission, in 2007, included just “a handful” of nongovernmental organization representatives, Lineberry told American Forces Press Service.

“We’ve learned a lot in this mission and expanded our number of partners,” he said. “We learned very quickly of the capability, the willingness and the resources that our partners have – and that they want to be out here with us.”

So this Continuing Promise mission, the fourth through Latin America and the Caribbean during the past three years, includes representatives of nearly a dozen humanitarian groups.

They’re people like Rob Voynow, a licensed practical nurse who said he jumped at the chance to participate, along with 13 other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “This is something that just doesn’t come along every day,” Voynow said. “It’s a way to make an important contribution, bringing different types of expertise.”

David Eddey, special projects manager for Project Hope, got his first exposure to the military when he served aboard USNS Mercy, Comfort’s sister ship, providing disaster response and humanitarian relief following the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. “Since then, Project Hope has developed a wonderful working relationship with the military,” he said.

Project Hope has 20 volunteers aboard Comfort, and will contribute a total of 97 volunteers before Continuing Promise wraps up in late July.

Eddey expressed pride in the mission’s evolution during the past two years, particularly the increasing role of host-country nongovernmental organizations. “We’re breaking down barriers and showing synergistically what it’s possible for us to do together,” he said. “We’re working together to bring hope to people in need.”

Together, these and other participating nongovernmental organizations have quadrupled donations to the mission since Continuing Promise 2007, noted Capt. Thomas J. Finger, a civilian Military Sealift Command boat captain and Comfort’s master.

“What we’re hoping is that these food and hygiene and medical supplies will, over time, improve the quality of life of the neediest Haitians,” Finger said.

In addition, many of the humanitarian volunteers bring medical and dental skills to the mission, working alongside military and U.S. Public Health Service medical professionals aboard Comfort and at clinics ashore.

The partnership makes the most of strengths each participating entity brings to the effort, Lineberry said. This includes the military’s extensive planning capabilities — “an enormous resource” on USNS Comfort, he said.

The 250-bed floating hospital is equipped and staffed to provide just about any kind of medical treatment except open-heart surgery or organ transplants.

Nearly halfway into its 10-day visit to Haiti, its crew of medical professionals from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, international partners, U.S. Public Health Service and nongovernmental organizations is conducting 15 to 25 surgeries a day, according to Navy Capt. James J. Ware, who overseas Comfort medical operations.

Meanwhile, the staff is seeing about 500 patients a day at onshore medical sites set up through coordination with Haiti’s health ministry, he said.

“We know we can’t do everything today,” Ware said at yesterday’s ceremony. “But we will be back with our partners. We hope to bring additional international doctors and nurses, and all work together for the benefit of the people of Haiti.”

DVIDS
Story by Donna Miles