Critics: PR got in the way of Comfort mission

[unhappycamper]

Critics: PR got in the way of Comfort mission
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Oct 31, 2007 6:08:21 EDT

BALTIMORE — The Navy hospital ship Comfort succeeded as a public relations tool but fell short of realizing its public health potential during a four-month tour of 12 South and Central American countries, critics say.

The ship’s crew dispensed free medical care to 98,000 people during a voyage that ended Oct. 19, improving and even saving lives under the Bush administration’s “medical diplomacy” initiative.

Yet when it sailed away, the ship often left patients frustrated and its potential unfulfilled because its agenda was dictated by public relations and politics, The (Baltimore) Sun reported in a two-part series ending Monday.

Public health experts said the mission appeared to break some cardinal rules of humanitarian medicine. It didn’t tailor services to the needs of each country it visited, for instance, arriving at each port with essentially the same mix of medicines, equipment and specialists.

And it failed to maximize the ship’s hospital facilities, rarely using sophisticated medical equipment such as its CT scanner and X-ray machines, the Sun reported.

The Comfort is designed to treat as many as 1,000 casualties at a time. But for this mission, just four of the ship’s 12 operating rooms were used, and it carried twice as many public affairs specialists — 14 — as surgeons, the newspaper reported.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_comfort_071030/

[ixion]

1. ah yes... the corporate face of 'Murika

all shiny and high-tech, but it's really just for show, or just for the uber wealthy. For the remainder of the planet, it is a soulless container, an empty shell.