The United States Navy operates two hospital ships, the USNS Mercy and the USNS Comfort, which are tasked to support U.S. armed forces as well as to provide medical aid and humanitarian assistance. “Both serve as 70,000-metric-ton symbols of how much America cares as a nation and as a people” (“Hospital Ships,” navy.com). The ships are huge, the second largest in the U.S. fleet after the super carriers, and the fifth largest ships in the world. Converted from oil supertankers, the two ships originally cost $560 million. Each one is 894-feet long (the length of three football fields) and the height of a 10-story building. In full capacity, each ship can carry 700 medical personnel. They are 1,000-bed hospitals (including four intensive care wards). They have 12 operating rooms, an emergency/triage room, full medical labs, pharmacies, and are equipped with the latest technology such as CAT scanners and digital X-ray. They offer radiological, optometry, and dental services. They have their own medical oxygen producing plants, blood banks with a 5,000 unit capacity, and water distilling plants (300,000 US gallons per day). A flight crew operates the ship’s helicopter pad which can handle the Navy’s largest helicopters. Kitchens can provide meals for 1,000 personnel. They assist in natural disasters such as the Southeast Asia tsunami of 2004 and the Haiti earthquake of 2010. On a visit to Southeast Asia in 2010, the USNS Mercy treated 109,754 patients and performed 1,580 surgeries. In 2015, the USNS Comfort provided care for more than 120,000 patients (including 1,200 surgeries) in 11 countries in the Caribbean and South and Central America. These projects are largely funded by the U.S. government, but they are also assisted by volunteer medical personnel and supplies donated by private organizations. This level of benevolence can be traced to the Bible’s great influence on America, even at this late stage in her history. (Friday Church News Notes, March 4, 2016, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Comments are closed.
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