Barbados Defence Force Field Hospital Progressing Towards Type Two Certification, Receives Key Donation

The Barbados Defence Force’s (BDF) field medical hospital is rapidly approaching its goal of achieving Type Two status.

This assurance comes from the BDF Chief of Staff, Commodore Errington Shurland, as he briefly spoke to reporters on Friday after receiving a state-of-the-art generator from CIBC officials that will be used to power the BDF Field Hospital.

Commodore Shurland expressed his gratitude for the donation, saying the generator brings the facility one step closer to achieving the coveted Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) certified Type Two hospital, which would allow surgery and post-operative services to be done when the hospital and its teams are deployed.

“We are in the process now of acquiring other bits and pieces that will get us closer to the finishing line for another assessment,” he disclosed. He added that they are aiming to not only provide any necessary support to the government of Barbados, but also assist regional governments when needed.

“In terms of equipment, we are nearly there, we need to work out some medical and legal considerations.”

The BDF Chief also revealed that plans are currently underway to deploy the field medical hospital and its teams to participate in more training exercises to assess their true capabilities in real-world scenarios. This is in response to the growing need for highly trained emergency disaster personnel within the region.

Commodore Shurland is proud of his Field Medical Team which consists of volunteers who responded positively to the recruitment drive.

“We do have an excellent corps of volunteers that work with the field medical hospital. Doctors, pharmacists and specialists in their [fields]. I really have to indicate my thanks and appreciation to them for their generosity; it’s really a labour of love, they are not being paid for what they are worth. But the response has been fantastic, and I am satisfied that we do have a very good team of volunteers.”