Hospital Ships, Other DOD Assets Prepare for Coronavirus Response

https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2116862/hospital-ships-other-dod-assets-prepare-for-coronavirus-response/

Hospital Ships, Other DOD Assets Prepare for Coronavirus Response
March 18, 2020| BY C. Todd Lopez

Two Navy hospital ships will be part of the Defense Department's response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Pentagon's chief spokesman said. The USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy are being prepared for deployment "as needed to assist potentially overwhelmed counties with acute patient care," Jonathan Rath Hoffman, assistant to the defense secretary for public affairs, said during a news conference today at the Pentagon. He was joined at the briefing by Air Force Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Paul Friedrichs, the Joint Staff surgeon.

The Comfort is now in Norfolk, Virginia, for maintenance, and the Navy has been asked to expedite that, Hoffman said, adding that it may take "a little while" for that ship to be ready to go. It will go to New York when its maintenance is complete.

The Mercy is on the West Coast and is ready to go in "days, not weeks," he said, and where it will go will be determined when it's ready to sail.

Both ships face issues with manning, however. Friedrichs, said the ships would likely be manned with typical staffs of personnel trained for combat casualty care, rather than for dealing with a contagious disease like the coronavirus.
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Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper suggested yesterday that one role for military medical professionals in regard to coronavirus response would be to take non-coronavirus patient care off of the hands of civilian hospital staffs so that those staffs could instead deal with coronavirus patients. Military medical personnel, and military medical facilities are geared more toward trauma care than dealing with contagious patients, he said.
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