Barbados sends fresh BDF medical team to quake-hit Venezuela

Barbados has deployed a new team of 61 Barbados Defence Force personnel and civilian medical volunteers to Venezuela as part of a planned rotation of the field hospital established after June’s devastating earthquakes, BDF Chief of Staff Brigadier Carlos Lovell said Tuesday,

The BDF will maintain a contingent of just over 100 personnel providing care on the ground, Brigadier Lovell said, as the team prepared to board their flight to Caracas at Grantley Adams International Airport.

Northern Venezuela was struck by two powerful earthquakes approximately 40 seconds apart on June 24, with a magnitude 7.2 foreshock followed by a magnitude 7.5 mainshock, making it the country’s strongest recorded earthquake in more than 125 years.

According to Brigadier Lovell, the Venezuelan government requested Barbados’ assistance.

“At present, we have just over 100 Barbadian military personnel and medical volunteers currently in Venezuela, and they are providing emergency medical care to casualties, patients, and Venezuelan citizens who require that care.”

He gave an update on the work done by the emergency medical hospital, which has been operating for just under a month.

“Since the hospital doors opened just under a month ago, we have provided emergency medical care to approximately 1 500 Venezuelans, with approximately 15 to 20 surgeries in the EMT [emergency medical team] hospitals. What you’re seeing today is the rotation of that first deployment; the intent is to have the EMT in Venezuela for a 3-month period with one-month rotations for the entire deployment.

“Today we … have deployed approximately 23 military personnel and 38 civilian volunteers, medical practitioners, technicians, and physicians, and we are extremely grateful for the fact that they volunteered, recognising that volunteerism in Barbados seems to be on the decline.”

He told the team that President Jeffrey Bostic, a retired BDF lieutenant colonel, expressed his gratitude for their service to the people of Venezuela on the nation’s behalf. “To express how proud he is of you individually and collectively and of the Barbados Defence Force for being able to stretch our compassionate arms across the sea from Central Barbados to Venezuela, a country that has so many different resources to be able to call for our assistance.”

He informed the team that the first rotation had put the necessary arrangements in place to allow them to begin work as soon as they arrive.

“They have set the conditions for your success when you arrive in Venezuela. They have done all the heavy lifting, erected all the tents, put everything in place, worked out all the kinks so that when you arrive in Venezuela you can hit the ground running and continue the excellent healthcare that they have begun.”

Brigadier Lovell said the work being done in Venezuela is “taking an olive branch from Barbados to Venezuela to let them know that we in Barbados care and we in Barbados are willing to help.”

He commended them for their volunteerism, describing them as a shining example to other Barbadians.

“To my mind, you are a perfect and shining example for all Barbadians to know that Barbadians are still willing to sacrifice to ensure that not just Barbarians, not the people in the Caribbean, but the people across the hemisphere are well looked after.”

He also reassured the team that while they take care of the medical needs of those who need care, they, too, will be protected.

“Know that you’ll be well looked after by these men and women in green; they’re here to look after you, they’re here to make sure that your security is well looked after, they’re here to ensure that you come back in one piece.”

(LG)