USNS Comfort Deploys to Latin America and the Caribbean to Provide Medical Assistance - U.S. Southern Command

MIAMI, FL - As the prima broke implicit the waters of Biscayne Bay successful the aboriginal morning, the U.S. Navy infirmary vessel USNS Comfort pulled into the Port of Miami connected October 23 for its past stateside larboard of telephone earlier opening its deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean arsenic portion of the Continuing Promise mission.

For the adjacent 2 months, the USNS Comfort - primitively designed to grip wide casualty incidents during times of warfare - volition instrumentality portion successful a humanitarian assistance, readiness gathering and goodwill ngo to 5 nations successful the Caribbean, Central America and South America. Their archetypal halt volition beryllium Guatemala and Honduras earlier sailing onto the different countries of Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Haiti.

Addressing the section and planetary press, U.S. Army Gen. Laura Richardson, commandant of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), spoke of her gathering the leaders of these spouse nations explained the request for the USNS Comfort and the much-needed alleviation it volition supply to these countries aft suffering done the ravages of the pandemic.

“A batch of their populations person been enactment into poorness arsenic a effect of the COVID 19 pandemic, and they're trying desperately to retrieve from this,” said Richardson. “The USNS Comfort volition decidedly assistance summation the partnership, but it volition assistance these nations that are struggling from the interaction of each the challenges that they are facing.”

Throughout its two-month deployment, the divers unit of astir 1,000 subject and civilian unit volition enactment alongside a assortment of governmental agencies to supply aesculapian assistance to communities based connected the needs identified by the host-nation wellness ministries. The bulk of these patients volition beryllium treated astatine the ship’s land-based aesculapian sites, portion prime patients whitethorn beryllium chosen for the infirmary ship’s onboard surgical services.

The aesculapian and dental capabilities provided during this deployment volition assistance communities with a wide scope of wellness services, including basal aesculapian valuation and treatment, preventive medicine, dental screenings and treatment, optometry screenings, eyewear distribution, wide surgery, ophthalmologic surgery, nationalist wellness training, and further specialties arsenic required.

Additional subject unit from our spouse nations that volition beryllium embarked connected the vessel see Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Honduras, and the Royal Netherlands.

Since its inception successful 2007, the Continuing Promise ngo has treated much than 580,000 patients wide portion the USNS Comfort unsocial has treated astir fractional a cardinal patients and

conducted implicit 7000 surgeries. The unit for this year’s ngo volition look to adhd to that full arsenic the vessel embarks connected its eighth mission.

“In the midst of this oversea of challenges, the Comfort sails arsenic a awesome of the unshakeable bonds betwixt the radical of the United States and the radical of Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Richardson. “The vessel and its unit volition widen an outstretched hand. They springiness hope. Wherever she goes, she carries with her our enduring promise, and each that it signifies.”