San Diego’s health care community played a quiet but critical role in April’s historic moment for space exploration. When the Artemis II astronauts returned to Earth earlier this spring, local Navy Medicine teams were there to support the successful recovery of the crew and the Orion spacecraft.
Operating aboard the amphibious transport dock USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), highly specialized U.S. Navy expeditionary medicine teams ensured the health and safety of the astronauts upon their return. The successful operation highlighted the readiness of local Navy Medicine commands that are integral to the San Diego health care community.
The local connection is reflected in the leadership of Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), where Director Capt. Elizabeth Adriano serves as a liaison to the HASD&IC Board of Directors. Under the Navy Medicine umbrella, local personnel deployed directly to support the historic space mission. Among them was Lt. Stephanie Ryan, a critical care nurse with En-Route Care System (ERCS) team 11, assigned to Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) San Diego and NMCSD.
Supporting the recovery mission required a diverse array of advanced capabilities. The ERCS is a highly mobile two-person team that provides continuous medical care during the transport of critically injured or ill, stabilized patients via ground, surface, or air. Complementing them is the Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System (ERSS) 14, a seven-person mobile surgical and trauma team designed to deliver life- and limb-saving care close to the point of injury.
In addition to NMCSD, the medical response involved personnel from Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. Deployed specialists from the Camp Pendleton command, including an emergency medicine physician and a general surgeon with ERSS-14, provided critical surgical and trauma support aboard the vessel. The joint effort also included medical experts from U.S. Naval Hospital Guam and NMRTU China Lake.
Our region is fortunate to be home to two naval hospitals, whose teams play an essential role both within their facilities and across the broader health care community. Military clinicians and staff deliver high-quality care to service members and their families while also contributing to trauma readiness and emergency response efforts throughout the region.
Through training partnerships and shared clinical practice in local hospitals, Navy physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals help care for patients, strengthen the health care workforce, and support the delivery of high-quality care across San Diego. These long-standing collaborations enhance readiness, foster innovation, and reinforce the strong partnership between military and civilian health care providers, and we all benefit from having these partners embedded in our community and deeply connected to the region’s health care system.