How the US' Hospital Ships Work

Animation by Josh Sherrington
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster

Select footage courtesy the AP Archive

References:

[harshdharpawar]

Aviation industry: We are ruined...
Sam: Lets shift to ship industry

[totallynotwei]

Airplanes: *shutdown*
Sam: I am never going to financially recover from this

[dan-se]

From planes to ships, Sam has it covered.

[TheNinjaDC]

Luckily for the USN, I have a feeling a few dozen cruise ships will be up on auction shortly to be potential replacements.

[AndreaCraneMathison]

As a member of the original crew on her Maiden Voyage in LOVED every single moment serving on her. She is an amazing ship and because of her, my life has never been the same again. I am blessed indeed to have sailed on her, met other amazing officer and enlisted people from THREE branches of the service, and to have traveled to such amazing places...Oh, how I wish I could serve on her again. We were also a small group in the whole world who were able to receive our Golden Shellback certification while crossing the Equator ON the International Date Line. Pretty cool if ya ask me.

[TheSecondVersion]

Wendover: "Hear me out: WHat if we had Hospital *Planes* "

[PerciusLive]

Ships: nautical
Aviation: aeronautical

Wendover: *its free real estate*

[gilbertmcglurk]

When a 50-year-old tanker ship has better healthcare standards than your local Sentera.

[nytrex_yt]

Wendover productions: *Doesn’t make an airline video*

Me: *somethings wrong, I can feel it*

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

It was surreal seeing the Comfort enter NY Harbor live on television, the last time that happened was around the time of 9/11

[Fred_uyz]

"Hospitals should avoid elevators"

Meanwhile the largest hospital in my country is a 19 stories, thin and narrow building, with the ORs in the 9th floor and only 2 patient elevators

[YouSoCute]

l was stationed on the mercy in 2010, place is huge, great capability. We did humanitarian missions in south east asia. We had lots of surgeries for cleft pallate mostly kids 😢😢 a lot of volunteers on board as well. From doctors, to religious organizations that assist with anything and everything. Great times!

[equesdeventusoccasus]

I was a patient on the Mercy during Desert Storm. It was an amazing ship & an amazing hospital.

[door-to-doorhentaisalesman]

2019 Sam: Planes

2020 Sam: Ship

3000 Sam: Space ships

[athirkell]

They look like they're made to mock Switzerland for not having any coastline 🇨🇭

[TheSecondVersion]

2:41 - How to intimidate other countries: Send them ships loaded with the *American* healthcare system

[KTheFirst]

You likely didn't know this because you focus on trains and planes, but those bulkheads were left in place for something a bit more practical than laziness: If the ship floods, you kind of need those bulkheads in place, and cutting hospital-grade openings in them is not exactly wise, even if you were to put in emergency doors. While a hospital ship *does* need to perform as a hospital, making structural accommodations in the name of that goal has historically proven to be a terrible idea.

Don't believe me? Look up the HMHS Britannic: An incomplete ocean liner, she was requisitioned as a Hospital Ship for the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915 during WWI. In November, 1916, she struck a mine in the Agean Sea during a shift change. Now, her internal bulkhead layout meant that, even with the forward compartments flooding due to the explosion jamming the forward watertight doors in place, she *could* have limped to shore, beached herself, and been salvaged by the Royal Navy...

Except the doctors had all of the portholes opened in order to freshen up the air.

They opened up. *ALL* of the windows. On a *ship*. *In a warzone.* Meaning that, instead of surviving, Britannic sank in 55 minutes.

Fortunately, she was going TO the war zone, and not FROM the war zone, and thus had no patients on board. That meant the only people who died were the 30+ idiots that left without orders, and were chopped up by the propellers.

TL;DR - Any kind of ship needs to be able to carry out its purpose as a SHIP before it can do anything else. While a land-based hospital can get away with having as little need for elevators as possible, the needs for the safety of ships at sea come first.

[acmelka]

Your comments on hospital design at 6:00 were spot on. I have seen so many healthcare projects that didn't understand the importance and knowledge base that influences hospital design

[UltraNyan]

"Elevators should be avoided".
USSR 15 story hospitals : "Hold my beer."

[AndreaCraneMathison]

I was stationed on the USNS Mercy on her maiden voyage in 1987....what an honor and privilege it was to serve on her. The Mercy is an amazing ship with amazing crew. If they ever want an old Navy gal back in again so I can once again serve on her, let me know....I am ready to go at ANYTIME. I know of a few hundred of my fellow shipmates who would gladly serve again as well. Just ask us....we will go and do!