Accepted: serving as firefighter on world's biggest floating hospital

Maritime firefighting ongoing on board, in training port before departure

The big news for this year is that I got accepted to serve as Firefighter on Global Mercy, the world's largest civilian floating hospital. It will be serving in Sierra Leone, and I will be there for the full month of August.

Mercy Ships is an international charity-based organisation that runs 2 floating hospital ships. They are large cruising ships that have been rebuilt to be self-sufficient hospitals. The car decks were rebuilt to be surgery wards. Everything is set to be able to give high quality medical care in conditions where it's not readily available.

These two ships sail around the coast of Africa. Normally, they go to harbours in developing countries that have a lot of people in need of medical help. They stay there for months, carrying out surgeries that transform people's lives. The patients would normally never dream of having those surgeries done otherwise, because it's very hard to afford. They also train local medical staff in order to strengthen the local capacity.

There are groups of specially trained staff that travel the country and find people that need help, and have a good chance to living a better life after the surgery. Then, they are scheduled for the different procedures that are needed. Usually, it's about removing tumors, cleft lips, club foot, helping with burns, dental issues, eye sicknesses and other things that greatly affect the lives of children and adults, causing inability to work or study, or being excluded from the social spheres. You can read patient stories here: in Swedish, or on the international page in English. Behind every story there is a person that deserves dignity and needs hope.

The ships are staffed with volunteers. These are experienced doctors and nurses from the whole world. Some come just for a few weeks, some work here for years. They do not get paid, and many of them depend on external funding to be able to continue working for free. Every volunteer has their own page where you can support them - here is mine.

Bear in mind that not only nurses and doctors are needed. The ship needs a huge organisation to function, with about 400 staff on board in total average, with every kind of role from electricians to hospitality professionals. All of these are volunteers, too - and they need new staff continuously. From bakers to network technicians, from administrative staff or project leads to accountants and maintenance workers. Bloggers, photographers, and of course deckhands, engineers and other maritime professionals. And firefighters. And I'm a firefighter. So I applied.

The application process shows clearly that the organisation is very professional. There is a well-defined way to apply, and a portal that shows the status of the application, the tasks that are to be completed, and the documents, certifications or courses that need to be done. Every applicant gets a designated contact person, and mine was also from Sweden, which made the communication easier, more informative and less formal.

As I was finally accepted, I was assigned to work on Global Mercy. The ship is in Spain at the moment, undergoing yearly maintenance. In August, it sails to Sierra Leone to be serving there until June 2026. The other ship, Africa Mercy, is currently in Madagascar, where it will stay until December. I hope to join it too one day. But this time, I will get the opportunity to join Global Mercy in Spain and then to sail along to Freetown. There, I will stay until the end of August.

Got the merch!

In order to serve as a firefighter on such a ship, I needed to complete quite a few maritime certifications, more about them in later posts. I also needed to do a medical check-up, and update vaccinations.

As it comes to vaccinations, I already had Yellow Fever as well as Hepatite A and B done, since I'm used to being in high-risk countries. This time however, it is very important to fully immunize - not only because of high-risk location, but also because I would be serving in a hospital.

So I got the booster for Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus and Polio. And the booster for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. I also got the last TBE shot (which is not required, but it was time to do it - some kind of a record to get 8 immunization shots at the same time...) And the typhoid vaccine, in pills. Finally, I had to get the IGRA test to make sure I do not have Tuberculosis. I got the prescription for the Malaria pills too. So I feel more protected than ever! It was a bit of a spending spree, yet it's required by the organisation and its medical partners, and is a good investment in health.

Apart from the certification courses, I'm doing the internal compliance courses for the organisation. All of this has required most of my time for the past weeks. Soon, it's time to get aboard and naturally, I'm excited.

Mostly used to small sailing boats - this will be different!

I've never been to Sierra Leone, which will be an experience I'm looking forward to. Also looking forward to the actual sailing to the location, as I have never worked aboard such a large vessel - only sailing boats. Working as a maritime firefighter is also a new experience, and a very interesting one - there are a lot of dimensions that are different from the on-land firefighting. Working at a hospital will be great concerning learning opportunities. And working in a developing country is something I'm very much looking forward to, eager to learn more dimensions of global health and multicultural healthcare. I have been active within humanitarian aid, volunteering and NGOs for many years - so this will strengthen my knowledge and give more perspective.

To ready more about Mercy Ships, visit mercyships.org which redirects to the local coutry-specific page. And to check out the volunteer opportunity if you want to serve, visit the opportunity center. Bear in mind that the application is a process that will take several weeks, and will require effort from your part. Hopefully, it will be absolutely worth it. It's also possible to bring the whole family if you are serving during a longer time.

The organisation has been active for 40 years. They want to raise awareness about the lack of surgical help to those in need, and also do their best to address the situation. They are dependent on charity, and in order to help you can check the web site and see how it can be done. Thank you!