Humanitarian Otolaryngology: A Navy Hospital Ship Experience

The USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) is 1 of 2 United States Navy hospital ships. In 2011, she deployed to 9 countries in Central and South America including Jamaica, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Haiti. Eight surgical specialties including otolaryngology were involved, for a combined total of about 150 cases per country. An advance team coordinated patients with the Host Nation to be seen for presurgical screening. Selected patients were then taken aboard the ship for surgery and recovered in either the ship's intensive care unit or ward. They were then discharged prior to ship embarkment to the next country. A total of 95 otolaryngology cases were performed during 9 mission stops. The mean number of procedures performed was 12 per country, with thyroidectomy being the most common. A wide variety of general otolaryngology procedures were performed without significant complications, markedly impacting the quality of life in these underserved countries.