If your hurt after a disaster possibly the best news you can get is to find out your being flown out to a US hospital ship. This ship is huge, most of 900' long. It is a fully independent and complete, floating 1000 bed hospital with a helipad on top. The USN provides the helicopter carriers, the supply and support to keep her operational, and they do an outstanding job, but IMHO the core of the relief fleet is the hospital ship.

The USNS Comfort did a huge job in Haiti:
http://blog.usni.org/2010/03/20/photos-usns-comfort-in-haiti/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Comfort_%28T
AH-20%29#General_characteristics

Steam Cathedral:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USNS_Comfort_-_Engine_Room.jpg

To so many people in the world we are villains and bullies who come to exploit and force our will on others. To injured people of other nations carried to the USNS Comfort we are heroes and angels. The hospital ships represent the best of what our nation can do.

IIRC, this is not the first such gig for this ship. Did not it respond to the Indonesian tsunami? Definitely a great resource. It makes me glad I live near the coast.

My hats off as well. Thank you for all that you've done to ease the suffering of the people of Haiti.

Likely it was the USNS Mercy that went to the tsunami, as they're out of San Diego. Comfort is an East Coast ship.

Having just said that, it's entirely possible that Comfort could have gone, since they might have been in the Mid-East and therefore nearby.

Our DMAT team did the casualty collection/repatriation for the USNS Comfort while we were in Haiti. Everyone involved in the medical aspect of the response was extremely glad that they were there.

Both views can be true at the same time.
The world is not like Aristotle's logic demonstrations with everything divided neatly into black and white and nothing in between.
It is more like shades of gray with lots of fuzzy bits driven into in Chaotic turbulence.

Anyhow, I do agree. The hospital ships and field medical teams are truly heroic.
It is also a surprise how much we owe to Dr Norman Bethune for starting the idea.

The Comfort was in NYC in response to the 9-11 attacks. It was ready for anything, but of course there was nobody to mend. I still remember how clean and sharp the ship was, and how professional and warm the crew was. Great people.