US sends Navy hospital ship to Puerto Rico for civilian disaster mission
Thursday, September 28th, 2017 9:07:02 by fatimaarshad
The United States government has finally deployed the US Navy hospital ship Comfort to hurricane-battered island of Puerto Rico. The ship has embarked on its first civilian mission in seven years in order to help the people who have been affected by Hurricane Maria.
According to the details provided, the USNS Comfort is equipped to carry around 1,000 hospital beds, 12 operating rooms and has one of the largest trauma units in the US. It takes up to full four days in order to load and prepare the vessel for medical operations.
According to the Defense Department officials, USNS Comfort has already left its port and is expected to arrive in Puerto Rico by the middle of next week. It is being said that the vessel could have left earlier to help the citizens of Puerto Rico affected by the deadly storm but the ship was released only after former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton urged President Donald Trump in a Twitter message to deploy the ship.
Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis “should send the Navy, including the USNS Comfort, to Puerto Rico now. These are American citizens,” Clinton, who served as secretary of state under Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, tweeted on Sunday.
Meanwhile the Pentagon did not explain why the vessel was dispatched so late but a Defense Department official said that the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which is overseeing disaster relief in Puerto Rico, had never requested it.
Maria is the most powerful hurricane which has hit Puerto Rico in nearly a century and it has caused wide-spread destruction. The hurricane has killed 16 people and has left the power grid of the island in shambles leaving homes and facilities without any electricity.
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Posted by fatimaarshad
on Sep 28 2017. Filed under Latest News, World.
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