ST JOHN'S, Antigua -- Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) said goodbye to the people of Antigua and Barbuda Saturday after spending 11 days providing medical, dental, veterinary, engineering, and other services through its Continuing Promise 2009 mission (CP09).

Some of the Comfort medical staff

“We are hoping that this visit cements the friendship between our two countries,” said Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer. “We thank you for all the fine gratitude and love that you shared with us the last 11 days.”

The hard work of Comfort’s crew was evident in both the number of patients treated and the quality of care they received. The medical and dental staff treated over 12,000 patients and performed 161 surgeries. The veterinary staff treated 2,084 animals and the pharmacy filled 13,823 prescriptions.

During the medical portion of the CP09 mission, Comfort medical staff treated patients at St. John’s Multi-Culture Center, All Saints Hanna Thomas Hospital and the Parham Primary School.

Another important part of the mission was the education and training exchanges between Comfort crewmembers and host nation personnel through both “hands on” sessions and classroom lectures. Topics covered included Adult Basic Life Support, post traumatic stress syndrome, entomology, and preventive medicine.

Veterinarians and preventive medicine physicians from Comfort provided “roving” services throughout

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer (center) and Governor General Dame Louise Lake-Tack (leaning on bed) chats with a patient aboard the USN Comfort.

Antigua and Barbuda, ensuring the needs of the animal population on the island were not forgotten. Teams did everything from vaccinate household pets to de-worm cattle on area farms.

The mission also provided a means to soothe the soul through the universal language of music provided by the U.S. Air Force South Band. The band included three different groups: a brass quintet, a ceremonial band and a rock band. All three appeared in several different concerts at locations ranging from official ceremonies to medical sites and a local church for a Mother’s Day mass.

Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202 Seabees also played a large part in the success of the visit through several infrastructure support and community relations projects. The Seabees arrived in Antigua with 21 Seabees and two main missions. The first was to partner with Ministry of Public Works and the Rotary in completely renovating a 9,000 square foot building with new electrical, plumbing, windows, doors, restroom, shower, floor tile, and painting of both interior and exterior surfaces.

The second mission was a Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE) with local Department of Public Works personnel on general carpentry; project planning, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and general concrete/retaining wall construction.

“This will greatly enhance the quality of life for the patients at the hospital and produce an environment more conducive to providing medical care to them,” said Chief Warrant Officer Two John A. Ford, Seabee Officer in Charge. “We provided four facilitators and successfully exchanged with 11 Public Works construction men. We received outstanding feedback of how beneficial the training had been and how professional and knowledgeable the facilitators were.”

The Seabees also completed several community relations projects including building a basketball court at a boy’s school, visiting local nursing home residents and painting and renovating a building at an AIDS clinic.

CP09 combines U.S. military and interagency personnel, non-governmental organizations, academic and partner nations to provide medical, dental, and engineering services afloat and ashore alongside host nation personnel.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also contributed greatly to this mission through volunteer work with the medical and dental staff and by giving donations. More than 20 NGOs together contributed $350,000 dollars worth of charitable goods. The items received in donation were seven hospital beds, a fracture table, first aid kits, hygiene pallets, and orphanage kits. NGOs participating in Antigua and Barbuda included Islamic Relief USA, Latter-Day Saint Charities, Project Handclasp, Project HOPE, Rotary International and the UCSD Pre-Dental Society.

CP09 is a joint effort between US military, interagency personnel and partner nations in which Comfort will travel to seven countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean providing 250 patient beds, five operation rooms, X-ray machines, computerized tomography (CT) scans, pharmacy, dental suites, physical therapy and a variety of other services.

“As we depart, we leave with many valued memories and a true sense of accomplishment that our Continuing Promise mission has seen to the needs of many people as well as strengthen our already strong relationship with the Antiguan and Barbudan people,” said Captain Bob Lineberry, mission commander of Continuing Promise.

The Comfort is scheduled to visit four more countries before the end of this year’s Continuing Promise mission: Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua and El Salvador.