safety steps

Barbados Defence Force – During the opening ceremony of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) Field Medical Team’s (BDF FMT) Emergency Medical Teams and Mass Casualty Management Training Course;

Military Advisor to the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Lovell asserted that the BDF FMT is one of the most important innovations and additions to the Regional Response Mechanism.

Lt Col Lovell noted that the Caribbean is under threat from severe weather systems at least six (6) months a year. Additionally he stated that there was always the looming threat of seismic and volcanic events which imperil the lives of our citizens.

He reminded partners from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), and the participants, that the BDF FMT was envisaged and developed based on the outcomes and lessons-learnt from the 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

This course is also designed to prepare the BDF FMT team for Barbados’ hosting of Exercise TRADEWINDS 2024 (May) and the Men’s T-20 Cricket World Cup Series (June).

Lt Col Lovell posited that the successful development of the BDF FMT was heavily dependent on the benevolence and cooperation of international, regional and local organisations; and the region stands to benefit significantly from this course.

This cohort comprises approximately 60 participants and servicepersons from St Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia and Guyana.

Additionally, Executive Director of CARPHA, Dr. Joy St. John commended the work and vision of the BDF FMT. She noted that the course represented a significant step towards a regional network of trained public health professionals, who are equipped to deploy in response to various adverse situations.

Head of the European delegation in Barbados, Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska, said after seeing the hospital set-up last year, she was “extremely impressed”, and even more so now, to see the regional participants on the course.

Noting that she was in the region when Hurricane Maria struck Dominica, the Ambassador said she has seen and understood the extent of the risks the Caribbean was faced with every year.

“This field hospital brings the best common knowledge, and skills, and is the best example of regional integration,” she said, adding it was important that an adequate number of persons be available to respond to local and regional crises.