Hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) completed its mission and departed the Joint Task Force-Haiti area of operations Wednesday.
Over the course of seven weeks, the ship's U.S military and civilian medical personnel treated 871 patients, receiving at the height of the recovery effort one patient every six to nine minutes. But now, thanks to more field hospitals ashore and fewer patients in need of specialized care, the ship did not had patients on board for more than a week.
Comfort departed its homeport in Baltimore Jan. 16, and arrived three-and-a-half days later and immediately began supporting humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti. Prior to anchoring off the coast of Port-au-Prince Jan. 20, Comfort was already receiving patients in transit via airlift. During portions of the relief effort, nearly 1,300 medical personnel from the U.S. military and various non governmental organizations (NGOs) were embarked and treating earthquake survivors.
Medical personnel aboard Comfort performed 843 surgeries during their mission in Haiti. According to the ship's Director of Surgery, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Tim Donohue, Comfort had more than 540 critically injured patients on board within the first 10 days. During the initial phase of its mission, the ship ran 10 operating rooms at full capacity to care for severely injured earthquake survivors. The ships medical crew also delivered nine infants during the relief mission.
Comfort is scheduled to return to its homeport in Baltimore March 14.