Exercise Tradewinds 2019
BDF Media Release| 17 Jun 19
Photography credit: Lieutenant Shimar Gollop
The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) Field Medical Facility (FMF) will be participating in Exercise TRADEWINDS 2019 (TW19) Phase 2 in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) during the period 14 – 22 June 2019. This year’s exercise will allow the BDF FMF to assess its capacity to function as part of a Regional response mechanism.
The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) has responded to numerous Sudden Onset Disasters (SODs) throughout the Region for 4 decades. This response has mainly been through the provision of security elements to sustain law and order, humanitarian relief units and also artisans to assist with the rehabilitation of the affected areas. This was indeed the case after the devastation of the Category Five and Category Five plus hurricanes of the 2017 hurricane season, as the BDF provided support in several affected countries including the Commonwealth of Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
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Post Dominica 2017, it was realized that there was a need to further develop the medical response capabilities of the military. The main local hospital was severely impacted and while there were medical teams from various countries and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) present to assist, there was no one unified Caribbean response. To this end, after engagement with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and in consultation with Lt Col (Ret’d) Gittens, it was decided to establish a Medical Facility that would meet the World Health Organisation Emergency Medical Team standards.
The EMT would be deployable locally in the event that the health care system was severely impacted in the aftermath of an SOD or that the system was overwhelmed in some way and also regionally under the auspices of the Regional Security System (RSS).
The BDF has embarked on the process of developing a Type 2 Emergency Medical Team but is first focused on the development of the Type 1. The Type 1 provides mainly outpatient care and stabilization and referral of major trauma cases. The Type 2 not only provides outpatient care but also provides in-patient care and has Operating Theatre capabilities.
To date the BDF has received a number of donations of equipment from partner nations and partner organisations and has enlisted the assistance of over one hundred and thirty (130) volunteers. These volunteers currently train on a monthly basis and have been exposed to basic military training and the various elements of the operations of a Field Medical Facility.
It is envisaged that the team will receive its verification as a Type 1 Emergency Medical Team in July 2019. Once this is completed, the BDF will work towards obtaining the Type 2 verification in 2020.
The BDF FMF comprising of military and para-military personnel, doctors, nurses and civilian volunteers, is led by Major Junior Browne, Major (ret’d) Marilyn Patrick and Major Andrew Darlington.
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.
