CV/CVN (Aircraft Carrier)*

Combat capabilities include surveillance, antisubmarine warfare, antisurface ship warfare, air-to-air combat, strike warfare, and electronic countermeasures warfare.  

Supportive missions, including medical support of the crew members aboard, are facilitated by a self-sufficient carrier hospital, which is a 65-bed, level "2-plus" facility with the following attributes:

• 3 dedicated ICU beds with coinciding equipment

• 1 operating room

• X-ray capability (less ultrasound, CAT scan, and most dye imaging)

• pharmaceutical service

• orthopedic cast room

• physical exam service, including refractions/audio tests

• spectacle fabricating facility

• full-service lab (may have HIV screening);

• preventive medicine support

• dental support, including oral surgery and prosthetics

Carrier manning includes:

• a flight surgeon serving as the senior medical officer

• a general surgeon

• a nurse anesthetist / anesthesiologist

• a general medical officer and usually two flight surgeons attached to the Airwing

• a physician's assistant

• a health care administrator

• a nurse

• 40 to 45 hospital corpsmen (including those assigned to the Wing) with a variety of NECs.

The carrier's medical department also serves as a consultative and primary MEDEVAC facility for the other vessels within the battle group, which could consist of another six ships and some 2,000 crewmembers.

Aircraft carriers have excellent medical resources, including communications, physical facilities, transportation, and medical staff. Their limitations are:

• They are not as well equipped for treating large numbers of casualties as the amphibious assault ships, and

• During combat, the carrier is focused on air operations. Trying to transfer casualties to the carrier at this time may be difficult or impossible.