BDF Field Medical Facility Type 1 Verified
BDF Media Release| 26 Sept 19
Photography credit: BDF Media
The Barbados Defence Force Field Medical Facility (BDF FMF) has attained Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Type 1 certification from the World Health Organization (WHO) verification team.
The verification and assessment visit was conducted over the period 25 – 26 September 2019. The BDF FMF components were assessed based on the EMT Medical Team Global Standards and included reviews of its administration, personnel, logistical and medical requirements needed to be self-sufficient for deployments up to two weeks.
Given the BDF’s experience responding to sudden onset disasters, conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations locally and regionally and, the necessity for medical services surge capacity due to the evolving complexity of the contemporary operations environment, the project to develop the FMF was conceptualized in late 2017.
To this end, after engagement with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and in consultation with Lieutenant Colonel (Ret’ d) Florence Gittens, the project to establish a Field Medical Facility that would meet the World Health Organization Emergency Medical Team standards. The development of the Field Medical Facility serves to strengthen Barbados’ disaster response mechanism, specifically in the area of the provision of health services and also strengthens the regional response mechanism activated through the RSS.
The BDF intends to develop a Type 2 EMT which would see the inclusion of an operating theater, X-ray and lab facilities, and in-patient wards. This Type 2 facility would be operational on a 24-hour basis.
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.
