Maritime
The Navy reported, the ship’s physicians
conducted nearly 200 total surgeries, including
44 general surgical procedures such as hernia
repair, gallbladder removal and appendix
removal; 25 major orthopedic
surgical cases; 17 amputations;
and 15 urologic procedures.
Credits: US Air Force
Hospital Ship Comfort Returns To
Norfolk Following Disaster Relief
Mission
A
fter nearly two months at sea, USNS Comfort
(T-AH-20) returned to homeport Norfolk from
providing life-saving care to residents of Puerto
Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
Comfort left Norfolk on Sept. 29 and arrived in
Puerto Rico on Oct. 4. Immediately upon arrival,
sailors from Comfort started treating patients.
Ultimately, according to a Navy statement,
Comfort would treat more than 1,899 patients,
perform more than 1,899 patients, perform 191
surgeries, provide 76-thousand liters of oxygen, and ten tons of food and
water.
24
The Navy reported, the ship’s physicians conducted nearly 200 total
surgeries, including 44 general surgical procedures such as hernia repair,
gallbladder removal and appendix removal; 25 major orthopedic surgical
cases; 17 amputations; and 15 urologic procedures.
Among the notable surgeries, the Navy reported Comfort’s medical
team performed:
*A modified radical mastectomy for an advanced case of breast cancer
*A complex multi-organ abdominal cancer resection
*An urgent drainage and exploration of a complicated neck infection
*An emergent open repair of a ruptured aortic aneurysm which
comprised the largest – the most complex surgery ever performed on a
hospital ship.
Also while providing disaster relief, the Comfort staff delivered two
children during the hurricane relief mission. The first was a baby girl, Sara
Victoria Llull Rodriguiz, born Oct. 14. The second was a baby boy, Isaias
Valerio-Fonseca, born Nov. 3. His father is a Navy veteran, according to a
Navy statement.
news.usni.org