Medical Residents aboard Comfort Respond in Puerto Rico
CARIBBEAN SEA (Oct. 12, 2017) - Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Perry, an emergency medicine resident from Naval Medical Center Portsmouth and a Navy pilot, embarked on the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), plans a patient medevac from Centro Medico hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Perry is one of only two aeromedical dual-designated physician aviators in the Navy, having designations both as a doctor and a pilot. Aboard Comfort, he’s in the tower helping coordinate the en route care medevac system. Comfort is underway operating in the vicinity of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, to provide medical services with additional visits being planned around the island. The U.S. Health and Human Services and Puerto Rico Department of Health representatives are prioritizing patients at each stop prior to Comfort’s arrival. The Department of Defense is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the lead federal agency, in helping those affected by Hurricane Maria to minimize suffering and is one component of the overall whole-of-government response effort. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stephane Belcher/Released)
