It is a ‘doctor-to-doctor’ transfer, as COVID-19 patients move from local New York area hospitals to the Navy’s USNS Comfort, often clinging to life through a mobile ventilator.
The USNS Comfort, which was designed to save lives in combat, has quickly been adjusting to treating COVID-19 patients to help reduce the strain and pressure now placed upon the New York area hospital system. Transported by local EMS, COVID-19 patients are transferred with specific protocol to ensure they live, senior Navy officials say.
“We are working closely with the Javits Center. We have liaison officers that support our mission who are in communication with local hospitals. This is a very critical process. We do handoffs from doctor to doctor, which are systematically done through the local EMS system. Some patients are on a mobile ventilator,” Capt. Patrick Amersbach, commanding officer of the USNS Comfort, told Warrior in an interview.
"We have over 30 patients in the ICU, some suffering from acute respiratory distress and multi-system organ failure. Our ICU is capable of treating 80 patients overall. We are doing our best to maximize their care. We have 19 patients on ventilators. We have been able to take some of those critical patients who are intubated … until they become extubated . Patients are getting better,” Amersbach said.
Overall, the USNS Comfort has discharged 60 patients, some of which have recovered from an otherwise critical condition caused by COVID-19.USNS Comfort personnel have been making special adjustments to wards on board the ship to properly isolate COVID-19 patients. The crew, Amersbach explained, is holding up well amid the added challenge; they have enough equipment and PPE, including up to 50 ventilators.
Preventing transmission can, of course, be a significant challenge, given how easily viral droplets can travel through the air. Interestingly, this danger was highlighted in an April 15 essay in
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