Photo By Photos DOD | Crew members of the USNS Comfort treat a patient in Acajutla, El Salvador, during...... read more read more
Subscribe
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Members of the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Medical team met Feb. 9 with newly assigned USNS Comfort personnel to discuss support of the hospital ship during peacetime and in contingency operations.
Open and ongoing communication is imperative to make certain the USNS Comfort is well prepared for any situation, Jackie Basquill, a supervisor in Medical’s operational customer facing division, said. Her division provides support to both the Comfort and the USNS Mercy.
“As the hospital ship crews rotate out, it is a great idea to meet and review the current processes in place and obtain a new perspective on the support from the new crew,” Basquill said. “It is an opportunity to familiarize them with the systems, applications and processes we have to support their peacetime needs and contingency operations. As we strive to automate and streamline the processes and improve customer service it is important to meet often enough to ensure we provide the best possible service to the fleet, as being a mobile customer can be very challenging.”
Navy Cmdr. Ricardo Byrdsong, a supply officer on the USNS Comfort, agreed, saying he thought the information exchange during the meeting was phenomenal and is something that should be done on a more regular basis.
“This meeting was great,” Byrdsong said. “It was good for DLA Troop Support and the Comfort to get together to see how we can work together to better support us. I got a better understanding of how the [DLA Troop Support] medical organization works, and I think we also conveyed some of the things the hospital ship does.”
Basquill said the hospital ships must be fully stocked and prepared to deploy for a mission within five days of notification.
“They rely heavily on the DLA Troop Support Medical supply chain to provide this support because when they sail, or arrive at mission destination, they provide mobile, flexible and rapidly responsive afloat medical capability for medical and surgical care,” she added.
To make sure everyone is working from the same page, Basquill said DLA Troop Support Medical continually works with the Navy and with industry to gain access to medical pharmaceuticals and supplies immediately available for delivery.
“DLA Troop Support Medical has formed a continued and open partnership directly with the Hospital Ship Program Office, as well as the ship representatives,” she said.
Army Lt. Col. Tsehai Crockett-Lynn, chief of the Operational Customer-Facing Division in the Customer Operations Directorate, summarized the bottom line.
“When you tell us your requirements, we want to be able to get them to you in the most efficient manner,” she said.
Hospital Ship Program Manager Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Reynolds said attending the meeting was time well-spent.
“Having the opportunity to meet with DLA members in person who provide support to the hospital ships and manage the contracting vehicles was not only very informative, but afforded me the opportunity to establish and build upon the intrapersonal relationships that I'm sure will be crucial next time either the Mercy or Comfort receives a short-notice activation,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 02.16.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2012 14:37 |
| Story ID: | 84308 |
| Location: | PHILADELPHIA, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 88 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Open communication highlighted in USNS Comfort, DLA Troop Support meeting, by Dena Selkow, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT