By F/S Colin Edie
Eight New Zealand Defence Force Personnel joined with the United States Naval Ship (USNS) Mercy Hospital Ship for one leg of US led Pacific Partnership 2008.
The Pacific Partnership NZDF team.
The tri-Service team boarded the Mercy at Darwin on 31 July and were inducted into ship life on route to Port Moresby (PNG). The team contributed to the mission at Port Moresby for approximately two weeks before returning to New Zealand (and the ship headed for Micronesia). The NZDF team of eight headed by SGN CDR Duncan included three nurses, a medic from each Service and an Air Force Environmental Health Technician (myself).
The Ship
The United States Naval Ship’s (USNS) Mercy and its sister ship USNS Comforts primary purpose is to provide rapid and mobile medical and surgical services to support the US Military. If needed this can be done very well, with up to 1000 hospital beds, 12 operating rooms, radiological services, medical laboratories, optometry lab, pharmacy and its own oxygen producing plant. The Mercy and Comfort are each larger than any United States shore based naval medical facility. So if you haven’t picked it up yet, what I am saying is this floating hospital is BIG!! (although the sleeping Berths weren’t).
In peace time this capability may be released to provide mobile surgical hospital services in disaster or humanitarian relief.
Pacific Partnership
The United States Naval Ship Mercy.
The Pacific Partnership (2008) is led by the US Navy with approximately 1000 people on board. This includes US Navy, Air Force, Army and Public Health Service, as well as Non-Government Organisations (NGO’s) and Partner Nations. The NGO’s included Project Hope and Project Smile, while the Partner Nations on board during our leg of the journey included Australia, Canada, Chile and India.
The countries assisted during Pacific Partnership 2008 were: Philippines, Vietnam, Timor-Leste, PNG (Port Moresby) and Micronesia.
A focus of Pacific Partnership 08 is surgery, with surgeons from many different disciplines operating in four theatres and performing 346 medical procedures at Port Moresby alone. Post operation patients were well cared for on board the ship until well enough to be discharged. The three NZ nurses on the team worked very hard on 12 hour shifts (mostly nights) in the intensive care unit or gastro/eye ward. The three medics worked in the ‘sick call’ providing primary care for the ship’s crew. Our medics and nurses were also directly involved in the emergency care of an Australian lady that was rescued (unconscious) from the Kokoda track by one of the ship’s helicopter crews – her life was saved.
General Ashore Missions
Children at Port Moresby.
Besides all the surgery occurring on board the ship, there were significant ashore activities. These missions included a number of temporary clinics called MedCaps (Medical Civil Aid Programme) or DenCaps (Dental). Up to 2500 patients a day were seen as part of this programme (medical, dental, optometry, physiotherapy) and over 25,000 patients during the two weeks at Port Moresby. The MedCaps certainly kept SGN CDR Duncan busy on a daily basis while our nurses and medics were involved on a rotational basis depending on their on board rosters.
A veterinarian team immunized, de-wormed and carried out some surgery on mainly cats and dogs. Additionally, specialist education programmes were provided in the form of SMEEs (Subject Matter Expert Exchange) to specific hospital, dental or public health staff.
The Engineering teams (EngCap) refurbished or built medical clinics, upgraded hospital toilets and installed water tanks. There was also a band which provided well received performances to a number of groups.
Preventive Medicine
Elevala Village.
The Preventive Medicine team provides services similar to Environmental Health in New Zealand – this is the team I was attached to. The team was comparatively large (18 personnel) and included specialists in a number of areas including entomology and epidemiology. On board I found myself involved with regular water testing of the ship’s reticulation, heat stress surveys (laundry, scullery), galley inspections and water chemical analysis of samples taken ashore. The ashore missions were varied and interesting. Activities ranged from insecticide spraying (ok not so interesting), water testing/sampling and a tour of the hospital laboratories, sterilizer bays, kitchen, morgue and incinerators. Other visits included the Port Moresby’s slaughter house, local public swimming pool water treatment process, water reservoir, and local villages (mosquitoes, rubbish, water and sanitation issues).
It does help to put things in perspective when viewing the problems some of the villages face – basic water, sanitation and malaria problems.
What struck me (again – but it’s good to be reminded) is how happy the children seemed to be in spite of not having the latest Xbox. Maybe we can learn something!