U.S. Navy Hospital Ship USNS Comfort Finishes Its Mission
in El Salvador
July 31, 2007

*****

After achieving nearly 40,000 encounters in El Salvador, the Navy Hospital Ship USNS Comfort sailed away today to Peru to continue its four-month humanitarian mission in 12 Latin American countries.

The Commodore of the mission, Captain Robert Kapcio, emphasized that more people were treated in El Salvador than in any other country during the mission to date. Captain Kapcio said, “We also want to thank you for your high degree of organization and your hard-working spirit, both of which allowed us to accomplish much more here than anywhere else we have visited."

The Commanding Officer of the Medical Corps, Captain Bruce Boynton, stated that the humanitarian mission treated more than 37,000 cases ashore and 2,800 on the clinics on board the ship, and performed 93 surgeries, including one surgery performed on Gumercindo García, a Salvadoran army sergeant wounded when a grenade exploded during his service in that country in April 2006.

The crew also administered 2,500 vaccinations, performed over 3,000 dental exams and 2,800 eye exams, provided 2,000 pairs of glasses and dispensed more than 13,000 medications. The Comfort delivered over $28,000 worth of donated medical equipment and supplies.

The medical team of the USNS Comfort performed three medical brigades: in the Health Unit of Acajutla and in the Costa Brava and Delfina Rivas schools, during its six days in El Salvador. Captain Kapcio underlined that all this wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of the Salvadoran counterparts” Working hand in hand with Salvadorans, that is what we have accomplished here over the last week, to strengthen the close ties between our countries and to provide assistance to the United States’ friends and neighbors in the region."

The number of cases treated in El Salvador increased the total number of cases treated during the Comfort's mission to over 120,000.

Comfort: donations, structural repairs, a concert and training

The presence of the Comfort in El Salvador offered as well the opportunity for Project Handclasp to make an additional donation of medical equipment and supplies with an estimated value of $12,000 dollars.

The donation, unloaded in the Health Unit of Acajutla on July 28, includes three hospital beds, a Stryker stretcher, intravenous poles, handmade quilts, towels, nightstands, a baby crib, teddy bears and clothes. Project Handclasp took advantage of the Comfort’s humanitarian mission to transport the medical equipment and supplies that will be donated in all the countries visited by the hospital ship. The value of the donations made to date in the Central American countries has reached over $60,000 dollars.

Comfort’s Project Handclasp coordinator, Lieutenant Andy Beisterveld, emphasized that these donations are a way to thank Salvadorans for allowing them to work together for their country: "Thank you to them for partnering with the United States – a gift from one country to another."

This is the spirit that has predominated among the Comfort’s crew, which has performed a variety of  tasks to provide medical attention, deliver medicine and assist with construction projects.  The Seabees of the USNS Comfort’s Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit re-built several structures, and repaired water systems and roofing of the venues where the doctors offered medical attention.

An exemplary case is the one of Delfina Rivas Elementary School in Acajutla, where they replaced the metal roof, repaired bathrooms and painted school buildings and classrooms with a cost of $5,800 dollars. Builder 2nd Class William Lathan explained that they received the help of 30 people of the community to finish the project: “The locals were really motivated to help us help them”, he said.

The project was finished on July 31.. Lieutenant Sara Woody worked as a volunteer to help the Seabees painting the school. She said: It’s very rewarding to see the results of your work and how it affects the people from this community”.

Comfort’s personnel also offered medical training to Salvadoran health care providers, repaired medical equipment in Sonsonate’s Hospital and even offered a jazz concert in Acajutla for the citizens of the community. The goal of all these actions was to make a lasting impact on the communities served and on El Salvador in general.

During the closing ceremony on July 31, the Commanding Officer of the Medical Corps, Captain Bruce Boynton, summarized the spirit of the mission with these words: “If we allow the Comfort’s visit to become nothing more than a distant memory, we will have missed an opportunity to build something better – partnership for health between the US and El Salvador. Disease knows no boundaries, but neither does friendship. Let us ensure this is not the end, but only the beginning of a lasting effort”.

For more information on the Comfort and its mission in Latin America you can visit: http://www.southcom.mil/comfort.

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