Navy hospital ship resumes work after overboard situation causes pause

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A U.S. Navy hospital ship has resumed operations near Haiti, after two sailors were injured and 19 people went overboard on Monday evening.

The incident led to USNS Comfort pausing operations for a day, the Navy confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.

The two American sailors sustained minor injuries during a man overboard incident at 7:17 p.m. EST on Monday. The nineteen personnel fell overboard during the transfer from a small boat to the Comfort at Wharf de Jeremie, Haiti, leading to the temporary shutdown in service.

The two injured sailors were treated aboard and are expected to make full recoveries.

A U.S. Coast Guard Cutter helped with the recoveries. At the time, swells had reached a dangerous point, making patient transfer difficult.

"We had to take a short pause in our operations to ensure the safety of our personnel, but it's important that we get back out there and continue our promise to the people of Haiti," said mission commander Capt. Bryan Carmichael, commander of the navy's Amphibious Squadron Four.

"We've developed a plan that gets our medical providers to and from the ship safely, and provides the people of Haiti with the care they need."

The hospital ship is in Haiti providing free adult, pediatric, optometry and dental care to those in need in Haiti as part of the Continuing Promise 2022 mission. The ship was docked in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, last week.

In 2020, it was stationed in New York City to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The floating hospital has visited Haiti several times over the past decade. It has treated ailments ranging from diabetes to cholera. Haiti continues to suffer from a cholera outbreak, which has killed over 280 people and infected more than 14,000 others.

Haiti received more than 1.17 million of oral cholera vaccines on Monday, with help from the Pan American Health Organization.

Once it departs Haiti, the 35-year-old Mercy Class hospital ship will continue on its mission through the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Comfort's current deployment is the 12th Continuing Promise mission.