Medical department operations in a fleet hospital during Operation Desert Storm

Abstract

Fleet hospital 15 was deployed to Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Storm. The facility was a 500-bed echelon-3 hospital located near Al Jubail, which served the fleet marines from February to April 1991. The medical staff of the department of medicine consisted of reserve medical officers with a variety of backgrounds. The desert environment, concern for endemic diseases, limitations of equipment, and the environment of conflict presented challenges to the medical department that required adaptation of civilian skills to this new environment. The hospital served as a community medical center, with 86% of the inpatient and outpatient treatment provided for non-battle-related illness and injury. Design considerations of fleet hospitals for future deployments should include the likelihood of treating a large number of non-battle-related injuries and illnesses.