By Lt. Cmdr. Katy Gray
Navy Office of Community Outreach

SAN DIEGO- A 2012 Nederland High School graduate and Nederland, Texas native is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard U.S. Naval Hospital Ship Mercy.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Trevor Williams is a hospital corpsman assigned to the hospital ship, which is homeported in San Diego. Mercy provides emergency, on-site care for U.S. combatant forces deployed in war or other operations.
“I am an anesthesia technician in the operating rooms during humanitarian relief missions,” said Williams. “I like to interact with the patients and work with the different cultures.”
Capt. Peter Roberts, commanding officer, Medical Treatment Facility (MTF), said that while “Mercy has tremendous capabilities and capacity, the heart of the ship is her crew.”
“They make her a truly incredible asset in worldwide medical response,” Roberts said. “From the core crew charged with keeping her always ready to the greater than 1,000 sailors that come aboard at a moment’s notice, they all bring an incredible passion and their own specific talent.”
Mercy has 12 fully-equipped operating rooms, a 1,000-bed hospital facility, digital radiological services, a medical laboratory, a pharmacy, an optometry lab, a CAT-scan and two oxygen-producing plants. The ship is equipped with a helicopter deck, capable of landing large military helicopters, and side ports that allow it to take on patients at sea.
Sailors assigned to Mercy also provide mobile surgical hospital services during humanitarian civic assistance operations. Sailors deploy to lend assistance as part of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts.
“The people and the environment are very welcoming aboard the Mercy,” Williams said.
When Mercy is not at sea, sailors serve at military treatment facilities, where they provide patient-centered medical care for veterans, service members and their families.
“This is about serving a cause bigger than yourself, to fight and defend your country,” added Williams.