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Comfort Completes Humanitarian Work in Guatemala

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS070703-19
Release Date: 7/3/2007 12:42:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Tyler Jones, USNS Comfort Public Affairs

BAY OF AMATIQUE, Guatemala (NNS) -- The Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) weighed anchor and left the Bay of Amatique, July 2, after completing five days of training and humanitarian assistance operations in several Guatemalan cities.

Throughout the five days, military and civilian teams from Comfort provided medical care, including primary adult and pediatric services, vaccinations and preventive medicine education.

“The response that we got from the local population was incredible,” said Capt. Bob Kapcio, mission commander. “We knew that the response was going to be good when our teams arrived at Puerto Barrios the first day. We were getting off the buses, the people were cheering.”

Missions were conducted at four worksites around the eastern coast of Guatemala. Teams of Navy, Coast Guard, Army, Air Force, U.S. Public Health Service and Canadian Forces medical personnel, partnered with volunteers from non-governmental organizations such as Project Hope, to care for more than 20,000 patients.

Simultaneously, Seabees from Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202, along with volunteers from other Navy communities and MSC civilian mariners, renovated a children’s hospital in Puerto Barrios. The crew completely restored two operating rooms, refurbished a playground, and painted the entire hospital.

The turnout at the medical center in Livingston was so great that the mission was extended to a fourth day.

“The overwhelming response we received during the whole mission was incredible,” said Kapcio. “We probably could have stayed another two or three days, to be honest.”

Medical services were also provided to Guatemala’s more rural population in the town of Morales, where Comfort teams worked hard, in heat indexes in excess of 110 degrees, to provide the population with quality, no-cost health care.

One citizen, identified only as “Helen,” hand-delivered a letter to the crew thanking them for their efforts.

“Our country doesn’t have very good medical care,” said Helen in her letter. “These two public hospitals that you saw are the only ones in this area. People have come from five hours away to come to these hospitals ... God bless you for helping us and taking the time to come here.”

Comfort will continue its goodwill mission next in Panama, where many of the same services will be provided to the people of that country.

Comfort is on a four-month humanitarian assistance deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean providing medical treatment to patients in a dozen countries. While deployed, Comfort is under the operational control of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command, and tactical control of Destroyer Squadron 24.