Mercy and Comfort Seafarers: “This is just what we do.”

The Navy hospital ships Mercy and Comfort were activated and deployed stateside this week to serve as referral centers for non-COVID-19 patients. The massive ships are “a hospital on the water and our members make up a good portion of the crew,” the Seafarers Jordan Biscardo told Union City. “If you were in the medical facility, you wouldn't know you were on a ship for the most part.” Comparable to some of the largest trauma hospitals in the United States, each ship contains 12 fully equipped operating rooms, a bed capacity of 1,000 and boasts digital radiological services, medical laboratories, full-serve pharmacies, blood banks, medical equipment repair shops, prosthetics and physical therapy. The crew members “are federal sector mariners,” said Biscardo. “They mobilized on 9/11, they mobilized when Hurricane Sandy hit New York. This is just what we do.”
- Chris Garlock

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