USNS Comfort and Crew Doing Good Work

USNS Comfort sailors build a clinic in Biloxi - Navy News release here:

Although Comfort staff will not be able to stay at the clinic very long, there will undoubtedly be a lasting affect on the area.

“The real good part about what we’ve done here is we’re leaving the local physicians with something to work with,” Dorrance said. “As far as having a long-term effect here, we will, because we are leaving behind this facility as well as all of the donated medical supplies.

"Most importantly, we got something started here. They will have somewhere they can go to receive medical treatment so they can feel better and start rebuilding their lives.”

Comfort is docked at Bayou Cassotte Pier in Pascagoula, Miss., and has been providing medical and hotel service to Katrina relief workers and area civilians who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Comfort and its more than 700-person crew have seen more than 1,200 patients aboard and nearly 400 patients in their community outreach clinics ashore since arriving in the Pascagoula area Sept. 10.

Photo caption:

Biloxi, Miss. (Sept. 18, 2005) – U.S. Navy Hospitalman Apprentice Ryan Junkin, left, and Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Donahue, both medical staff stationed aboard the Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), construct supporting beams while building a triage clinic in Biloxi, Miss. Comfort is working in direct support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s effort to provide medical support and humanitarian aid in the Gulf Coast for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The hospital ship has treated more than 1200 patients since her arrival in Pascagoula, Miss., Sept. 9th. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist Seaman Heather Weaver

UPDATE: Froggy has more info on the Navy Special Warfare contribution to the Katrina effort that I had here.

UPDATE 2: More work that the public never sees:

Pensacola, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2005) - The minesweeper USS Scout (MCM 8) is assisted by a tugboat as it pulls alongside the Allegheny Pier on board Naval Air Station Pensacola. The Scout, along with the USS Defender (MCM 2), USS Gladiator (MCM 11) and USS Falcon (MHC 59) recently completed a survey of 938 nautical miles along the Louisiana coast following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The U.S. Navy's involvement in the humanitarian assistance operations are being led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with the Department of Defense. U.S. Navy photo Gary Nichols

The survey is important to allow shipping, barge traffic, fishing, and other offshore activities to operate with some idea of what may have changed due to the storm.