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USNS Mercy Finishes 72 Days of Humanitarian Aid

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060901-12
9/1/2006

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman (SW) Joseph Caballero, U.S. Pacific Fleet

TIMOR SEA (NNS) -- The last of USNS Mercy’s (T-AH 19) patients returned to shore Sept. 1 as the ship prepared to make its journey home after completing 72 days of humanitarian aid to Southeast Asia.

The U.S. Naval hospital ship Mercy began its five-month humanitarian and civic assistance deployment more than four months ago and has since reached thousands of people in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia and East Timor.

Mercy’s crew not only treated an unprecedented number of patients during a single deployment, but it also brought medical education, civil engineering, culture exchange, and most of all friendship to the people of the region, according to Capt. Bradley Martin, Mercy’s mission commander.

“We’ve achieved a tremendous amount,” said Martin. “We’ve delivered care to almost 200,000 people. We’ve done lifesaving surgeries for people, and we’ve altered people’s lives in a lot of positive ways.”

“Another thing that has been very important with this mission is that we have achieved a high level of interoperability with the NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and allied militaries,” continued Martin. “We’ve gotten a lot done, and I hope to foster and continue relationships with all these countries and their people.”

To carry out the medical side of its mission, Mercy tied together the skills of U.S. and foreign military medical specialists with doctors and nurses of nonprofit, charitable medical organizations, most of which operate independently in the region.

The organizations working aboard Mercy included Project HOPE, Operation Smile, Aloha Medical Mission, Tzu Chi Foundation, International Relief Teams, the UCSD Pre-Dental Society and a number of host nation NGOs. Mercy’s military medical team consisted of U.S. Navy, Air Force and Army members, along with foreign military medical personnel from Canada, India, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

“We have all learned a lot from each other,” said Project HOPE Volunteer Michele Okamoto, a certified emergency nurse. “As for Project HOPE, we were the first NGO to work this closely with the Navy, and that’s a real source of pride for all of us. We’re really grateful for the opportunity to serve in this way, because what Mercy has done is a great thing, and there should be a lot more of these (deployments) in the future.”

Mercy conducted a few operations each day at every location where teams conducted medical and dental civil action projects (MEDCAPs) and provided health care at local hospitals. The MEDCAPs, usually set up in remote villages, were used to treat minor illnesses and tooth decay ashore; when serious problems were encountered, the patients would be brought to the ship either by helicopter or small boat for further medical treatment or for surgery in one of Mercy’s operating rooms.

Following treatment aboard the ship, patients would be monitored in a recovery room and then be moved to one of the intensive care units aboard. Patients and their escorts would wait to depart the ship in one of Mercy’s wards until they were fully recovered. One of Mercy’s last patients, Melina Barreto, expressed her thanks to those who helped her before she went home.

“It’s very lucky (for us) because you come here, and it’s free treatment for my baby,” said Barreto, an East Timorese who brought her 15-month-old child, Algira, to Mercy for surgery. “It’s very expensive for this surgery (at home). In our hospitals, our equipment is not complete. I would hope this ship could stay for a long time. I hope that you would come back here again.”

At each port where the medical teams disembarked to treat the sick, teams of public health workers followed close behind to test each area’s water sanitation and examine the level of insect-borne diseases. In addition, the crew held classes to help improve current sanitation conditions, as well as exchange ideas on topics such as basic life support and neonatal resuscitation.

In complement to the health-based services, Mercy’s crew of Seabees also helped out local communities by building and repairing infrastructure and hospital facilities, as well as installing various pieces of equipment. Mercy’s 15 Seabees are from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40, based out of Port Hueneme, Calif.

The Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) civil service mariners (CIVMARs) who operate and navigate the ship worked closely with the Seabees on many community relations projects ashore. According to Chief Construction Electrician Mike Gallagher, the assistant officer in charge of Mercy’s team of Seabees, he and the other Seabees benefited tremendously from the expertise of the CIVMARs.

“Together with the CIVMARs, we have built a lot of things here and improved the quality of living for the people in the places we’ve visited,” said Gallagher. “But the most important thing we’ve built was friendship with the people we helped.”

The U.S. Navy Showband, which deployed with Mercy, brought music to each of the countries Mercy visited. They played sets that included songs from classic to current to appeal to all ages of the audience. The band also held clinics and master classes for local aspiring musicians.

Mercy’s size made it much too large to moor pierside at many of the locations. In response, Mercy embarked Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HCS) 25, which operated two helicopters that shuttled personnel and patients to and from shore sites. The vast majority of people were transported between ship and shore by two boats, called the ‘Band-Aids,’ run by Mercy’s CIVMARs. These boats transported more than 6,000 patients and personnel plus cargo.

Mercy’s crew was also host to numerous guests and distinguished visitors, including the presidents of the Philippines and East Timor, U.S. ambassadors, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Surgeon General of the Navy, the U.S. Pacific Command commander and the Pacific Fleet commander.

Mercy will return to her homeport of San Diego in late September where most of its military crew will return to the shore-side hospitals where they worked before the deployment, and the civilian volunteers will return to home.

“It has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Hospitalman Melisa Espinosa, who worked in Mercy’s casualty receiving department, which is roughly equivalent to an emergency room. “I feel really lucky to be able to see all these parts of the world and be able to make new friends there. It has been one of the best things I’ve ever done, and I’d definitely do this again in a heartbeat.”

For related news, visit the Pacific Fleet Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cpf/.