The Barbados Defence Force’s Field Medical Team (BDF FMT) will conduct a full-scale exercise tomorrow Saturday, August 26, and again on Sunday, August 27, between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., each day.
The exercise takes place at the BDF FMT’s camp site at the National Stadium, Waterford, St. Michael, and will see members of the Barbados Cadet Corps and the Barbados Youth Advance Corps performing the role of casualties.
It forms part of the activities on the agenda for the two-week camp which got under way from Sunday, August 20, and will see the erection of a TYPE 2 WHO field hospital on the stadium grounds.
Officer in charge of the BDF FMT, Major David Clarke, explained that the exercise was designed to assess patient flow through the facility and ensure that the right type of treatment is given to patients.
In addition, it aims to test the triage system to move from a five-tier system traditionally used by hospitals, to the three-tier START (simple triage and rapid treatment) system used after a disaster. The exercise is closed to the public; however, they should expect to see activity in and around the National Stadium during the exercise days.