 |
| TURBO, Columbia (Nov. 16, 2018) - Hospitalman Joel Bautista, from Mount Pleasant, Texas, changes a patient transport bus at land-based medical site. |
TURBO, Colombia - The hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) arrived in Turbo, Colombia, its third stop in support of U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative on Nov. 14.
More than 900 U.S. service members, volunteers and partner nation personnel are embarked for the mission to provide medical assistance during stops in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, and Honduras.
“I think that it’s great to be able to come out here and really help people,” said Hospitalman Joel Bautista, from Mount Pleasant, Texas. “We’ve mostly been helping to triage patients, but today I helped change a tire on a bus. Even helping in small ways is pretty cool.”
Medical service providers expect to treat approximately 750 patients per day and provide approximately 20 surgeries per day aboard the ship while working alongside partner nation personnel.
“This is the Comfort’s sixth medical mission in Central and South America and her fifth visit to Colombia,” said Capt. William Shafley, commander, Task Force 49. “We are here to show support and to work with our partner nations to provide top-quality healthcare to those in need.”
Comfort is on an 11-week medical support mission to Central and South America as part of U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative. Working with health and government partners in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Honduras, the embarked medical team will provide care on board and at land-based medical sites, helping to relieve pressure on national medical systems caused partly by an increase in cross-border migrants. The deployment reflects the United States’ enduring promise of friendship, partnership and solidarity with the Americas.