Hospital Corpsmen (HM) — Navy enlisted medical ratings responsible for providing medical care, preventive medicine, and health services — served aboard Navy ships providing primary medical care to ship’s company crew members in shipboard sick bay facilities. HM ratings staffed the ship’s sick bay, dispensary, and medical treatment spaces aboard destroyers, cruisers, carriers, and auxiliary ships, providing the medical services required for crew health aboard deployed naval vessels. Hospital Corpsmen also served ashore at naval hospitals, dispensaries, and with Marine Corps combat units. HM ratings working in shipboard sick bay and medical spaces aboard Cold War-era naval vessels commissioned during the asbestos construction period accumulated background asbestos exposure from the asbestos-containing pipe insulation and construction materials present throughout the ship’s hull interior where medical facilities were constructed.

Shipboard Sick Bay Construction Asbestos

HM ratings in ship’s sick bay and medical spaces accumulated background asbestos:

  • Sick bay compartment hull construction — the sick bay, medical treatment rooms, and dispensary spaces aboard Cold War-era naval vessels were constructed within the ship’s hull using construction materials consistent with the vessel’s construction period. Ships commissioned in the 1950s and 1960s incorporated asbestos-containing pipe insulation on the steam and water distribution piping running through the overhead and bulkheads of the hull’s below-decks spaces, including the areas where sick bay and medical facilities were located. Hospital Corpsmen working in ship’s sick bay spaces accumulated background asbestos exposure from the hull construction materials present in the medical space overhead and bulkheads throughout their shipboard assignments
  • Medical equipment areas and treatment room construction — the medical treatment rooms and examination areas aboard Cold War-era ships incorporated interior construction materials consistent with the ship’s construction period. HM ratings performing medical treatments and procedures in shipboard medical spaces worked in proximity to the hull construction materials throughout their medical watch assignments

Aircraft Carrier Medical Facility Asbestos

HM ratings on aircraft carriers worked in larger medical facilities with the carrier’s asbestos:

  • Carrier medical department spaces — aircraft carriers maintained large medical departments with multiple sick bay compartments, operating rooms, dental facilities, and medical ward spaces constructed within the carrier hull. The carrier medical department spaces were constructed using the carrier’s hull construction materials incorporating asbestos-containing pipe insulation and construction materials consistent with the carrier’s construction period. Hospital Corpsmen assigned to carrier medical departments worked in these hull spaces and accumulated background asbestos exposure from the carrier construction materials throughout their carrier assignments
  • Carrier berthing and mess areas adjacent to medical spaces — the location of medical spaces within the carrier hull placed corpsmen in proximity to the carrier’s broader interior construction incorporating asbestos-containing materials throughout the crew berthing and working spaces of the Cold War-era carrier hull

Shore Medical Facility Asbestos

HM ratings at naval medical facilities accumulated shore station asbestos:

  • Naval hospital and dispensary construction — naval hospitals and dispensaries where Hospital Corpsmen served shore duty assignments were constructed using military medical facility construction specifications that incorporated asbestos-containing building materials in floor tile, ceiling tile, pipe insulation, and building construction. HM ratings working in naval medical facilities accumulated background asbestos exposure from the medical facility construction throughout their shore medical duty assignments

VA Claims for Navy Hospital Corpsman Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from Navy ship service. Hospital Corpsmen who served aboard Cold War-era naval vessels and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.