• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

USNS Mercy Expands Navy Medicine Technology

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060527-10
Release Date: 5/27/2006 8:00:00 PM

By Journalist Seaman Joseph Caballero, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (NNS) -- The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) implemented Battlefield Medical Information System Telemedicine (BMIST) in May to prepare for the five-month humanitarian assistance deployment it began April 24.

Mercy will use BMIST in several locations during its deployment. After the medical crew goes ashore at each location, they will interview each patient and enter basic, vital health data into the BMIST-equipped PDA. By the time patients are admitted to the military treatment facility, BMIST already has their electronic records quickly on file in the ship’s computers, ready for the doctors and nurses aboard while still ensuring patient privacy.

“It’s a very simple process to either use a storage card or hook it up directly,” said Michael Bedwell, training specialist and system administrator with Multi-Services Group International and a retired Navy hospital corpsman. “That takes the data from the front line, or the point of injury or illness, to recovery. This electronic health record moves with the patient.”

Mercy’s crew has been training with BMIST during casualty drills to learn how to quickly and efficiently operate the system, said Chief Hospital Corpsman (FMF) Rolando Cana, leading chief of Mercy’s nursing services.

“It only takes a little practice to learn it,” said Cana. “With a little time, it will make things a lot quicker. It’s an awesome system. All you have to do is point and click – not like before. Writing everything down takes a lot more time.”

When Mercy was in the Asia-Pacific region doing humanitarian work more than a year ago, the crew used logbooks to record by hand every person who was seen.

“It will be a lot easier to keep track of the patients we take care of [this time],” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Jason Moore, leading petty officer for nursing services. “We could’ve used it last time when we gave thousands of immunizations to people; it’s hard to keep track of that many names and numbers.”

“This system will save us a lot of time in the long run,” continued Moore. “If we need to look up patients, we won’t need to thumb through hundreds of pages.”

BMIST was initially developed for troops in combat situations, which require medical teams to respond and evacuate injured troops quickly. Army and Navy medical personnel have been using the product in Iraq and Afghanistan during recent conflicts.

“Up to this point it has only been used in-theater,” said Bedwell. “As far as the blue side (shipboard) Navy is concerned, this is the first time it’s been used. Mercy’s crew is going to do something no one else has done.”

Mercy’s crew will work together with non-governmental organizations (NGO) like Project HOPE, Operation Smile and Aloha Medical Mission to bring aid to the people of the South and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. In addition, Mercy is augmented with Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 40, who will perform minor construction efforts in the host nations.

“It’s a tremendous journey we’re going on – absolutely unprecedented,” said Capt. Joe Moore, commanding officer of Mercy’s military treatment facility.

“This is the first time that our mission is an elected mission,” said Moore, referring to the fact that the mission is purely humanitarian-based. “We are really writing the play book on how a mission like this can be done.”