Page 26 - QARANC Vol 19 No 1 2021

24 The Gazette QARANC Association
BATUS deployment in support of COVID-19 operations
During the period February 2020 – August 2020 a team of QA nurses were deployed as part of the temporary staff within the MRS facility on Canadian Forces Base Suffield. Captain James Krause SNO, Corporal Marius Ngu and Corporal Amy McCormick were initially sent for six weeks to support the MRS in routine daily duties. Little did we know that by the end of our extended deployment the world would have changed.
By the end of March 2020, the UK was entering ‘lockdown’ and worldwide, health authorities were faced with a challenge not seen previously in the modern age. It sounds overly dramatic when read out loud but as we all have come to accept life is quite different to what we knew in February 2020.
It was a remarkable and unprecedented period during which the Defence Medical Services were confronted with a worldwide threat in the form of the COVID-19 virus. The emphasis was on the medical response and across the world health authorities were faced with unknowns about the virus and its impact.
As part of a Canadian Forces Base, British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) is known to many as a rolling prairie of limited elevation and few breaks in the horizon. We had arrived just at the start of Ex PRAIRIE PHOENIX which occurs annually in BATUS. With average temperatures sitting at minus 20 degrees and a wind chill taking the mercury down to below minus 40 degrees, having the right kit is essential.
The winter maintenance period is vital for vehicle and ground preparation for the PRAIRIE STORM Exercises. These are the biggest exercises the Army conducts at Battle Group level and executed to achieve CT5 level training and a pre-deployment requirement.
We joined BATUS Medical Centre as part of the temporary staff made up of three nurses, three Combat Medical Technicians (CMT), a paramedic and the AELO. This level of staff is required to augment the permanent team to provide the necessary medical support to a battlegroup going through training.
Working alongside the Canadian Forces the weeks soon passed, with busy days and nights within the MRS. Due to the severe weather conditions a high number of MSK injuries were seen, slips and falls and some over enthusiastic AT skiing accidents. There were also many admissions into the ward of personnel infected with influenza A and B. This busy period provided us with an opportunity to develop within PHC while gaining experience overseas working a three day, three night, three off rotation.
Clinical duties included sick parades supporting the CMTs, phlebotomy clinics, routine appointments, emergency appointments, managing admitted patients on the ward and an out of hours service. We attended weekly clinical training provided by both UK and Canadian Forces. This was an ideal opportunity to enhance our skills while gaining crucial knowledge.
On the 11 March 2020, the World
Health Organisation (WHO) officially declared COVID-19 a world pandemic. Also known as SARS-CoV-2 it was to dominate our world for the next four months. As a country Canada began taking measures to prevent the spread of the outbreak. In Alberta, schools, restaurants, and places of potential spread closed on 15 March. The Alberta Health Service advised against all non-essential travel. This resulted in a strategic move to return all temporary staff, cancel the exercises for 2020 and prepare for what was to come. It would have been an extraordinary day in BATUS HQ when this decision was made, its impact affecting thousands of personnel.
The BATUS DPHC Medical Reception Station is jointly commanded by a CF base surgeon and SMO Lieutenant Colonel Williams. It relies heavily on temporary staff to maintain enough capacity to keep the MRS open 24 hours a day. To ensure this service was maintained and to reassure the population at risk the staffing had to be reconfigured. The decision was made to retain three nurses, the environmental health technician and one MO to support the SMO, Practice Manager, Practice Nurse, (Sergeant Andrene Love-Sutherland) and a small Canadian medical team during this challenging time. The DPHC dentist, physio, ERI and pharmacist remained, providing core duties, and staffing the medical operations team.
The combined forces team began preparations for what may come. All appointments were conducted via telephone, avoiding face to face consultations where possible. Hand hygiene, PPE and swab taking training was conducted. The wearing of masks became mandatory.
The Medical Centre was adapted to create three wards, able to potentially care for up to 14 admitted personnel. This was to support Alberta Health Services. The COVID-19 ward area, essentially an isolation facility, provided the staff with an area to treat patients, whilst containing the virus, should the need arise, and minimize the risk to the clinical staff. We carried out a rehearsal of concept drills, practised how we would enter the wards, treat our patients, feed them
Corporal Amy McCormick (temporary staff) Sergeant Andrene Love-Sutherland (Practice Nurse) Lieutenant Colonel Rhys Williams (SMO), Captain James Krause (temporary staff) Corporal Marius Ngu (temporary staff)