BDF Field Medical Facility Expands QEH
Accident and Emergency Unit
BDF Media Release| 20 Apr 20
Photography credit: Private Kyle Straker
As part of Operation Trident Shield, the Barbados Defence Force’s (BDF) contribution to the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a second element of the Field Medical Facility (FMF) has been set up at Jemmott’s Lane as a Respiratory Short-Stay Unit (RSSU). The RSSU is an annex to the QEH Accident and Emergency Department and is located next to the UWI Clinical Skills Building. The role of the FMF RSSU is twofold: (1) to improve the efficiency of medical care delivered by the MHW and (2) to provide targeted care for patients requiring brief treatment and dischargeable as soon as clinical conditions are managed. The first element of the FMF has been deployed at Paragon Base Campsite as a swabbing test centre since 23 March 2020.
During a tour of the RSSU with Chief of Staff BDF Colonel Glyne Grannum, QEH Emergency Services consultant Dr David Byer; Minister of Health and Wellness, the Honourable Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, expressed his satisfaction at the BDF’s efficiency in deploying the FMF as an essential service for the overall healthcare of Barbadians. The visit also observed key personnel and facility staff engaging in training for the correct methods for donning and doffing personal protective equipment, in-processing of patients, sanitization techniques and other medical procedures.
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Dr Byer further stated that the set-up of the Field Medical Facility was mainly for persons who present with mild symptoms and require general testing. The facility will be ready to accommodate patients who have been referred from the main Accident and Emergency Unit at the QEH from Monday 20 April 2020.
The BDF FMF Coordinator, Major Junior Browne, indicated that this current set-up can accommodate a maximum of 20 patients as it is dual-purposed in reducing the density at the A&E Department. He went on to explain that the facility will be manned by QEH medical and auxiliary staff, Cuban Volunteer Nurses and BDF personnel.
Highlights
Commodore (Cdre) Errington Ricardo Shurland was appointed Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) on 1 September 2021. He enlisted in the BDF in February 1984 and in a military career spanning over 34 years, has served in various operational and administrative appointments.
Colonel Glyne Grannum joined the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) on 18 October 1985 and underwent career development training at the Canadian Forces Officer Candidate School, Chilliwack and the Combat Training Centre, Gagetown New Brunswick, Canada. He subsequently attended the Infantry Training Centre and the Signal Wing in Warminster, UK (PCBC and RSO Courses respectively), the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy; the Lester Pearson Canadian Peacekeeping Centre, the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, Kingston, the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, Toronto, the National Defence University of the People’s Liberation Army People’s Republic of China and the Centre for Hemispheric Defence Studies, National Defence University, Washington. He also attended a Defence Resources Management programme at National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa, Canada. In addition to being a qualified infantry officer, Col Grannum is a qualified Regimental Signals Officer and a former Operations Officer and Finance Officer of the BDF.
Colonel Banfield joined the Barbados Battalion of the South Caribbean Force in 1941 having just left the Cadet Corps at Combermere School, and was granted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1942. He was a Platoon Commander and a Company Commander during the war and served in Barbados, Dominica (as part of the Gale Force), St Lucia and St Vincent.
Warrant Officer Class 1 Colin Marshall is a graduate of the St Michael, and was born on the 5 November 1969 and enlisted in the Barbados Defence Force on 16 August 1994. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal in August 1997, Corporal in 1999, Sergeant in 2007, Color Sergeant in 2014, Warrant Officer Class Two in 2017 and Warrant Officer Class One in 2020. He was Most Outstanding Student on Junior Leadership Course in 1998, the Most Outstanding Student on Junior Non Commissioned Officer Cadre in Jamaica in 2000, best at Leadership on the Search Adviser Course in Jamaica in 2007 and the Most Outstanding Student on the Warrant Officer Course in Jamaica in 2015.
