Keeping it clean around the clock
NEW YORK (USTCNS) --- "We strive to do our best, for the best is what we are called to do," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Howard Thompson the laundry supervisor aboard Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort.
He and his staff of about 20 are kept busy around the clock with the 2,200 to 2,400 pounds of dirty laundry the ship produces daily.
When rescue workers board Comfort and check in, they are given laundry bags and pins with a number. They sign in their pin number with the check-in desk and proceed to the showers and berthing. Their laundry bags are picked up by Navy personnel and brought down three decks to the laundry facility.
"We've been getting 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of laundry from the guests aboard Comfort including personal items and the sheets and blankets," said Thompson.
Three decks below the main deck, the heat from the massive dryers and steam presses permeates the room. Sailors work diligently, pressing and folding laundry over the roar of the machines. Comfort's laundry facility is impressive. It has three caliper presses, 12 steam presses, two vacuum presses, two 50-pound washers, one 60-pound dryer, six 100-pound dryers and four 200-pound washers.
"Our facility is comparable to that of an aircraft carrier," said Thompson.
Eighteen sailors make up the 12-hour day shift, actually washing, pressing and folding, and two sailors work the night shift collecting and returning laundry.
"This division works hard," said Thompson. "They put their hearts into it, and I am happy to work with them."
"Everyone aboard the ship has been wonderful to us," said Kenya Marquez Pena, a rescue worker from Mexico City staying aboard. "Now we can concentrate on what we came to do."
(FROM MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
He and his staff of about 20 are kept busy around the clock with the 2,200 to 2,400 pounds of dirty laundry the ship produces daily.
When rescue workers board Comfort and check in, they are given laundry bags and pins with a number. They sign in their pin number with the check-in desk and proceed to the showers and berthing. Their laundry bags are picked up by Navy personnel and brought down three decks to the laundry facility.
"We've been getting 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of laundry from the guests aboard Comfort including personal items and the sheets and blankets," said Thompson.
Three decks below the main deck, the heat from the massive dryers and steam presses permeates the room. Sailors work diligently, pressing and folding laundry over the roar of the machines. Comfort's laundry facility is impressive. It has three caliper presses, 12 steam presses, two vacuum presses, two 50-pound washers, one 60-pound dryer, six 100-pound dryers and four 200-pound washers.
"Our facility is comparable to that of an aircraft carrier," said Thompson.
Eighteen sailors make up the 12-hour day shift, actually washing, pressing and folding, and two sailors work the night shift collecting and returning laundry.
"This division works hard," said Thompson. "They put their hearts into it, and I am happy to work with them."
"Everyone aboard the ship has been wonderful to us," said Kenya Marquez Pena, a rescue worker from Mexico City staying aboard. "Now we can concentrate on what we came to do."
(FROM MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
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