As I have been on call this week and unable to leave the ship this weekend, I thought I would give you all a little tour of the Africa Mercy.
The Africa Mercy was originally a ferry operating in Denmark before it was bought by Mercy Ships in 2007 and converted into a floating hospital in Tyneside England . It is currently the worlds largest non-governmental floating hospital.
It has 8 decks. The 8th deck has outside space only and is where the pool is (unfortunately not in use at the moment) and the only deck where we can walk all the way round. It has nice views of Gorre Island and the surrounding port.
Deck 7 also has a space outside where every afternoon mobile patients can have some outside time in the “fresh” air. Deck 6 is where the laundry room and crew galley is and also where the Academy is – the school for the round 40 children of the crew on board.
Deck 5 is the most important level of the ship. It is where the entrance and reception is, the dining room and Starbucks. There is also a library and conference rooms and the International lounge where every monday morning a meeting of all the african mercy staff takes place.
Deck 3 houses the modern hospital with 5 operating theaters. an intensive care unit, an opthalmology unit X-ray and lab and of course the pharmacy. There are also 5 wards with beds for a total of 80 patients. Cabins are also on deck 3 and 4. The ship has accommodation for 480 crew members including cabins for families, couples and singles. My 6 berth cabin is on deck 3 so I have a 15 second walk to work!!!
The pharmacy is very small and I work with 3 pharmacists. The pharmacy is stocked according to WHO essential medicines list . It has its own formulary and serves both the hospital and crew. I will post a more detailed article about what my work in the pharmacy involves.
The supply chain for the Africa Mercy stretches across the globe with containers with supplies mostly shipped from Texas or Rottjerdam. Temperature sensitive products are airmailed.
Jane's Mercy Ship blog 