Media Release
U.S. Navy Medical Personnel Treat Over 10,000 in Chuuk
September 18, 2008
During a ten-day deployment of August 22-31, a visiting team of 917 military and civilian professionals from the United States Naval Hospital Ship USNS Mercy treated 10,832 patients in Chuuk. This number represents nearly twenty percent of the total population of the FSM’s largest state. These patients received primary medical care, optometry, dental, pharmacy and physical therapy services. Mercy dental professionals performed over 1,000 tooth extractions and other dental procedures. Mercy optical professionals treated 2,992 patients and distributed 2,575 pairs of prescription reading glasses and 4,490 pair of sunglasses. Mercy pharmacists saw 6,756 patients and filled 20,172 prescriptions. A total of 204 patients received surgical treatment on board the Mercy while it lay at anchor in Chuuk Lagoon. They underwent a variety of procedures including eye, nose, throat, gastrointestinal, endoscopic, urological, gynecological, pediatric, orthodontic, plastic and general surgeries. Patients who were screened and found to be in need of longer-term health treatment were referred to the Chuuk Department of Health Services for further attention.
Environmental health officials provided mosquito control, food sanitation inspection, and waste treatment plant inspection for Chuuk State. Embarked medical doctors completed the Centers for Disease Control investigation of a recent multi-drug resistant tuberculosis outbreak in Chuuk, providing consultation for ongoing treatment of existing cases. Veterinarians who embarked on the Mercy conducted roving clinics in the lagoon islands on seven different dates, seeing a total of 193 animals. They performed veterinary surgical procedures on 275 of these and provided de-worming treatments on another 518 animals.
U.S. Navy Seabees arrived in Chuuk in mid-August and in less than four weeks completed extensive construction work at three major engineering project sites. They renovated the Chuuk State Hospital, repairing, painting and upgrading its in-patient wards, as well as the operating, delivery and emergency rooms; constructing an intensive care unit and consultation rooms in the female medical ward; fixing electrical wiring and lighting throughout the hospital; and installing surgical lights in the maternity, operating and emergency rooms. Other teams of Seabees worked simultaneously to renovate buildings at Weno’s Mwan and Fefen’s Messa Elementary Schools. They replaced all roofs and ceilings, installed new lighting fixtures and a moveable partition wall, repaired doors and windows, modified and reconstructed porch canopies, painted interiors and exteriors, and installed rain gutter water catchments systems with new storage tanks.
One resident summarized the entire Mercy visit shortly before the ship departed Chuuk, commenting, “We, the people of Chuuk, would have to agree with you when you said your visit to Chuuk was ‘amazing,’ but in a different perspective of course. Even after your departure today, we are still amazed when we think back to what you and everyone on the Pacific Partnership 2008 Team did for the people of Chuuk. All of you must have heard so many times ‘thank you’ and ‘kinisou chapur.’ But I do not think we can ever thank you ENOUGH. We are truly blessed to have been visited by angels on their big white angel boat! The sight of the beautiful Mercy in the Chuuk Lagoon will forever live in our hearts.”