By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brandon Shelander

USNS Comfort Public Affairs

PARAMARIBO, Suriname – Service members and civilians from hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), began pre-operation screenings at the Stichting Centrale Opleiding Verpleegkundigen en Beoefenaren van Aanverwante Beroepen (COVAB), translated as General College for Nurses and Related Occupations, in Paramaribo, Suriname, Oct. 2.

Comfort’s team arrived early in the morning and within a few minutes of setting up, was screening a long line of surgery candidates.  Medical fields covered by Comfort’s pre-operation (pre-op) screenings were general surgery, plastic surgery, pediatric surgery, urology and gynecology.

Radiology, orthopedics and ENT services were also provided at the site.

For Chief Hospital Corpsman Laura Cain, leading chief petty officer of the operating room aboard Comfort, conducting pre-op screenings in the last country of the deployment is both a happy and sad experience.

“I’m really excited to get home to my family,” Cain said, “but I’m sad to be finishing this deployment. This job is good and very rewarding.”

Her feelings were mirrored by everyone at the site.

“This has been one of the best experiences in my Navy career,” said Lt. John Deloge, a nurse anesthetist attached to Comfort. “I’ve been in for 15 years and I’m very grateful to have this opportunity to help our neighbors. It’s sad that we’re almost done, but the impact we’ve had on the countries we’ve visited is incredible.  We’ve been able to help people that would never have been able to receive the kind of treatment we can offer.”

The first day of pre-op screenings was also the first school day for a new batch of nursing students at the college. The students were allowed to observe Comfort’s crew at work and even got a chance to ask questions. Service members, as well as civilians from Project Hope, will teach several classes on advanced life support (ALS) and cardiac life support (CLS) to the nursing students attending COVAB through out the week.

“We’ve had some language barriers with the students, but we’re getting more translators,” Cain said. “They’ve been walking around with huge smiles on their faces and they seem to really enjoy watching our people work.”

Comfort will remain in Suriname for about a week before returning to the U.S. from its four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean.