US hospital ship arrives in Capiz for humanitarian mission

Posted to the People & Events section of the Visayan Daily Star (Jul 22): US hospital ship arrives in Capiz for humanitarian mission

The hospital ship USNS Mercy arrived in Roxas City, Capiz Saturday for the first half of the Pacific Partnership 2015, the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

Pacific Partnership provides real-world medical care to thousands of patients, veterinary services, and critical infrastructure development to host nations through multiple engineering projects, while training for crisis conditions, a press release from the US Embassy said.

The medical staff aboard Mercy will perform surgical procedures, host community health engagements, and provide direct care in seven locations throughout Capiz. PP15 personnel will also work and train side-by-side with the community on civic service events, safety topics, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, water search and rescue, veterinarian care, and community outreach projects.

The crew will also host partnership events such as a multilateral leadership forum on gender and development, partnered training with barangay health workers, biomedical repair exchanges, and a disaster risk reduction forum intended to enhance international response to natural disasters.

The PP15 participants on the ship and ground include personnel from the United States, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and New Zealand. The hospital ship arrived with more than 900 personnel, including volunteers from non-government organizations, the press release said.

Mercy will depart Roxas City August 4, and transit to Subic Bay to continue its mission in the Philippines, from Aug. 5-14. Capt. Christopher Engdahl, Pacific Partnership 2015 mission commander, said “preparing for natural disasters before they happen is vital to the stability of the Pacific region. PP15 allows our nations to better prepare now so that we are able to respond and seamlessly integrate during future relief efforts.”

The partnership is now on its 10 th iteration. It has provided medical care to around 270,000 patients and veterinary services to more than 38,000 animals, and provided critical infrastructure developments to host nations through the completion of more than 180 engineering projects.

For more details, those interested may log on to www.cpf.navy.mil/pacific-partnership/2015/ , or http://go.usa.gov/3GfNd , the press release added.

http://visayandailystar.com/2015/July/22/people.htm