Nurse Anesthesia Program Students and Faculty Tour the USS Gunston Hall

A group of Nurse Anesthesia students from the class of 2017 and faculty members Chuck Vacchiano and Frank Titch recently toured the USS Gunston Hall, which is between deployments in support of the United States Marine Corps and anchored at the Joint Expeditionary Base in Little Creek, Va.

The Gunston Hall is an LSD class ship (dock landing ship) which is an amphibious warfare ship with a well deck to transport and launch Marine Corps landing craft and vehicles onto beach fronts. The experience is designed to familiarize the students with the Navy and Marine Corps mission and how the nursing and medical arms of the service support that mission. The tour includes medical and dental care spaces, operating room, dining facilities, living quarters, the bridge where steering and navigation are performed, the helicopter flight deck and the well deck.  The tour is an annual event organized by Vacchiano and Titch in collaboration with active duty Navy CRNAs who serve in the area and are members of Fleet Surgical Teams who deploy aboard these vessels.