U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Brittany Berkley, patient transport shift team leader, explains patient transfer protocol from the pier to the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20).
Comfort cares for trauma, emergency and urgent care patients without regard to their COVID-19 status. Comfort is working with Javits New York Medical Station as an integrated system to relieve the New York City medical system, in support of U.S. Northern Command’s Defense Support of Civil Authorities as a response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The USNS Comfort, a 1,000-bed hospital ship was rushed back into service to aid New York City which is now the epicenter of the nation’s outbreak. It deployed from Naval Station Norfolk.
The Navy said Comfort comes with an array of medical equipment and services, including digital radiology, medical and optometry labs, a pharmacy, a CAT scanner and two oxygen-producing plants. (Story continues below the video)
Comfort is now admitting coronavirus patients.
The Navy had to reconfigure the ship as defense officials had said that the Comfort was not designed to treat patients with infectious diseases.
(Video credit: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sara Eshleman)
RELATED STORIES:
- Trump in Norfolk: POTUS sends off USNS Comfort to NYC for coronavirus aid
- In photos and video: USNS Comfort prepares for deployment to NYC
- Last rites amid the coronavirus: Solemnity with additional safety measures in place
- Child abuse during the coronavirus: No school may mean some children may be subjected to more abuse
