• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence

• Security Menu                     

• Systems
• Industry
• Operations
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Space

Comfort Arrives in Gulf, Ready for Relief Support

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050910-01
Release Date: 9/10/2005 4:45:00 PM

By USNS Comfort Public Affairs

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (NNS) -- Crew members on board the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) arrived at Pier Gulf's Bayou Casotte Terminal here Sept. 10 to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) effort to provide medical support and humanitarian aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Comfort brings with it unique capabilities for humanitarian relief missions, including helicopter lift capability, advanced medical equipment, a wide range of medical capabilities, berthing and personnel support, and logistical supply assets to support medical operations ashore.

Specific components of the ship's mission have not yet been determined due to the fluid nature of the relief effort; however Comfort's leadership says the ship's crew remains flexible and ready for any task.

Comfort and its more-than-500-person crew are initially slated to function at a 250-bed capacity for patient care. Should there exist a need to support a respite care role for relief workers, the ship's capabilities can be stretched to accommodate more than 700 beds.

In addition to the 59 Sailors and 63 civil-service mariners who make up the reduced operating staff aboard the ship, the crew was augmented with Sailors from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and Naval Medical Clinic, Annapolis, Md., as well as several other Navy Military Treatment Facilities across the eastern United States.

In preparation for the mission, Comfort loaded more than 245,000 pounds of supplies, including more than 48,000 bottles of water prior to departure from Baltimore, Md., Sept.2.

The 894-foot ship then stopped in Mayport, Fla. en route to the Gulf Coast to receive more than 300 medical and support personnel, to load an additional $800,000 of medical supplies including pharmaceuticals, intravenous fluids and vaccines, and took on $3 million in donated medical supplies from the Non-Governmental Organization, Project HOPE.

In coordination with FEMA and other agencies, Navy and Marine Corps assets are continuing to provide assistance to displaced persons, medical aid for affected people, mobility and logistics support, as well as assistance in restoring other critical infrastructure and civil services.

Additionally, in light of communications difficulties created by Hurricane Katrina, the Navy has established a 24-hour help line for Sailors, DoN civilians and their families to call information. The phone number is (877) 414-5358. The line is staffed by volunteers with connectivity to FEMA and other government agencies.