{"id":4072,"date":"2020-04-06T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/?p=4072"},"modified":"2020-04-03T10:36:40","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T14:36:40","slug":"umb-ties-to-the-hospital-ship-usns-comfort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/?p=4072","title":{"rendered":"UMB Ties to the Hospital Ship USNS Comfort"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Health Sciences and Human Services Library Historical Collections\u2019 strives to provide broad access to our diverse collections both in person and digitally. Materials in our collections appear as they originally were published or created and may contain offensive or inappropriate language or images and may be offensive to users. The University of Maryland, Baltimore does not endorse the views expressed in these materials. Materials should be viewed in the context within they were created.<\/em><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"Photograph<\/a>

USNS Comfort docked in Baltimore, 2010. Image from Wikimedia Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n

On March 30, 2020<\/a> the USNS Comfort arrived in New York City\u2019s Harbor on a mission to provide assistance to the city\u2019s overwhelmed hospitals in the midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic.\u00a0 The USNS Comfort is a Navy Hospital Ship with 1,000 beds and 12 operating rooms, which has been deployed in times of crisis and peace around the world.\u00a0 The USNS Comfort is stationed in Norfolk, VA but for a significant portion of her life (1988-2013) as a hospital ship, she was stationed in Baltimore\u2019s Port<\/a>.\u00a0 The location is not her only ties to the city of Baltimore, as several UMB alumni and faculty served on this hospital ship during her 33-year history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Photograph<\/a>

Dr. H.G. Robert Knapp, School of Medicine Class of 1946, from the 1946 Reflexions Yearbook. Following graduation Dr. Knapp served on the USNS Comfort.<\/p><\/div>\n

The USNS Comfort is actually the third Navy ship christened with the name Comfort.\u00a0 The first Comfort (USS Comfort AH-3) was a repurposed passenger and Army transport ship that was transferred to the Navy during World War I (1918-1921) and commissioned as a hospital ship.\u00a0 This USS Comfort, like the current Comfort, was stationed in New York\u2019s Harbor to support the hospitals during the 1918 Flu Pandemic.\u00a0 However, it was primarily used to transport wounded soldiers across the Atlantic following World War I.<\/p>\n

The second ship christened the USS Comfort (AH-6) served the Navy as a hospital ship during World War II.\u00a0 Following the war the ship was transferred to the Army.\u00a0 It was on this Comfort that Dr. H.G. Robert Knapp, University of Maryland School of Medicine Class of 1946, served as Chief Medical Officer treating patients returning from Germany and Japan following the war. \u00a0Dr. Knapp achieved the rank of Captain in the Army.\u00a0 After being discharged Dr. Knapp opened a private practice in Orthopedics and taught at the University of Arkansas.\u00a0 Dr. Knapp passed away in 2010.<\/p>\n

\"Photograph<\/a>

Commander Barbara Vernoski, graduate of the School of Nursing, hugging her husband and daughter before deploying on the USNS Comfort during Desert Storm, 1990. Image from Navy Medicine Vol. 81, No. 5.<\/p><\/div>\n

The current USNS Comfort is a converted oil tanker; it was transferred to the Navy in 1987.\u00a0 The USNS Comfort served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the 1990s.\u00a0 During this deployment, Commander Barbara Vernoski, Lt. Commander Barbara Schmitz, and Lt. Commander Elana Schavalend, all graduates of the University of Maryland School of Nursing, served onboard. Schmitz served as head of the Burn Unit on the ship and shared her experiences of wartime nursing with The Washington Post<\/em> in 1990, \u201cSome people felt like they didn\u2019t do enough when they died, even though we did everything we could.\u00a0 It\u2019s different at home – when they die they\u2019re 90.\u00a0 Here I\u2019m writing the ages – 20, 22, 25 is the oldest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photograph<\/a>

Lt. Commander, Eddie Lopez, School of Nursing graduate in 2002, served on the USNS Comfort in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. From the 2010 Nursing magazine.<\/p><\/div>\n

The USNS Comfort was also deployed to New York\u2019s Harbor following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.\u00a0 During that deployment it served as a place for emergency workers to get medical care, rest, and showers while sifting through the rubble.\u00a0 In 2005, the ship was sent to aid Hurricane Katrina victims in the Gulf Coast and in 2010 it was sent to Haiti to provide medical aid to those injured in the earthquake.\u00a0 While in Haiti, Eddie Lopez, University of Maryland School of Nursing Masters Graduate in 2002, served as Lt. Commander on the vessel.\u00a0 Lopez reflected on his time onboard in a 2011 School of Nursing publication, \u201cWe worked 16-hour days with limited supplies. It was disaster medicine, which means you just do the best you can with what you have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photograph<\/a>

Drs. Brian Kirkwood and Andrew Pakchoian, School of Dentistry, served as dental students on the USNS Comfort during a peacetime deployment to the Caribbean in 2009. Image from the May 2009 Voice.<\/p><\/div>\n

The USNS Comfort has also been deployed in peacetime missions as it was in 2009, when Brian Kirkwood and Andrew Pakchoian, then third-year students in the School of Dentistry, served with Dr. Patricia Meehan, assistant dean of admissions and recruitment, and Dr. Gary Hack, professor, on board the ship.\u00a0 In the mission, the members of the Dental School traveled throughout the Caribbean to work with other students and faculty from dental schools in the region on digital dentistry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2013, the USNS Comfort left its home in Baltimore for the last time and was transferred to the Naval Station in Norfolk, VA, ending a 25-year history with the city.\u00a0 During that time, medical personnel, including several from the schools at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, saved thousands of lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

References:<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u201cA Mother\u2019s Duty.\u201d (10 Sept. 1990). People Weekly. <\/em>34(10). Retrieved from: https:\/\/people.com\/archive\/cover-story-a-mothers-duty-vol-34-no-10\/<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

Berberich, S. (May 2009). Voice<\/em>. 29(8):12. Retrieved from: http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/10713\/10883<\/a><\/sub><\/p>\n

Chappell, B. (30 Mar. 2020). \u201cHospital Ship USNS Comfort Arrives in New York to Ease Coronavirus Pressure.\u201d NPR Website. Retrieved from: https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/coronavirus-live-updates\/2020\/03\/30\/823826987\/hospital-ship-usns-comfort-arrives-in-new-york-to-ease-coronavirus-pressure<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u201cComfort and Joy.\u201d (18 Dec. 1990). Voice<\/em>. 8(9): 12. Retrieved from: http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/10713\/10320<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

DeMetrick, A. (26 Feb. 2013). \u201cUSNS Comfort Departs Baltimore for the Final Time.\u201d WJZ13 CBS Baltimore Website. Retrieved from: https:\/\/baltimore.cbslocal.com\/2013\/02\/26\/usns-comfort-departs-baltimore-for-the-final-time\/<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u201cH.G. Robert Knapp.\u201d (2012). Bulletin of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. <\/em>96(3):34. Retrieved from: http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/10713\/3592<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u201cHistorical Note.\u201d (02 May 2019). Records Relating to Hospital Ships and USNS Comfort during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, 1906-1991.<\/em> Finding aid at Naval History and Heritage Command Website. Retrieved from: https:\/\/www.history.navy.mil\/research\/archives\/research-guides-and-finding-aids\/hospital-ships-and-usns-comfort-1906-1991.html<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

Krause, P. (2011). Nursing.<\/em> 5(1): 39. Retrieved from: http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/10713\/4513<\/a><\/sub><\/p>\n

Navy Medicine<\/em>. (1990). 81(5):Cover.\u00a0 Retrieved from: https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/NavyMedicineVol.81No.5September-october1990\/mode\/2up<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

Moore, M. (08 Nov. 1990). \u201cD.C. Trauma Trains Medic for the Gulf.\u201d The Washington Post.<\/em> Washington D.C.: a01. Retrieved from ProQuest: https:\/\/search.proquest.com\/docview\/307332972?accountid=57689<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

Patani, A. (02 Nov. 2018). \u201cLegacy of USNS Comfort.\u201d The Sextant<\/em>. Official Blog of Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved from: https:\/\/usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil\/2018\/11\/02\/legacy-of-usns-comfort\/<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

Sobocinski, A. (27 Mar. 2020). \u201cNavy Hospital Ships Have History of Answering Nation\u2019s Call.\u201d U.S. Department of Defense Website. Retrieved from: https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/Explore\/Features\/Story\/Article\/2128626\/navy-hospital-ships-have-history-of-answering-nations-call\/<\/a>.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On March 30, 2020 the USNS Comfort arrived in New York City\u2019s Harbor on a mission to provide assistance to the city\u2019s overwhelmed hospitals in the midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic.\u00a0 The USNS Comfort is a Navy Hospital Ship with 1,000 beds and 12 operating rooms, which has been deployed in times of crisis and peace around the world.\u00a0 The USNS Comfort is stationed in Norfolk, VA but for a significant portion of her life (1988-2013) as a hospital ship, she was stationed in Baltimore\u2019s Port.\u00a0 The location is not her only ties to the city of Baltimore, as several UMB alumni and faculty served on this hospital ship during her 33-year history.\u00a0 Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":4074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,94,11,12],"tags":[180,186,185,187,188],"class_list":["post-4072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dentistry","category-historical-collections","category-medicine","category-nursing","tag-covid-19","tag-umbsod","tag-umbsom","tag-umbson","tag-usns-comfort"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4072"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4072"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4087,"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4072\/revisions\/4087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.hshsl.umaryland.edu\/hslupdates\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}