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Drill conducted at Colombo Harbour to rehearse COVID-19 patient extraction
View(s):The Navy, in collaboration with the Suwaseriya Ambulance Service, the Colombo Harbour Firefighting Unit, the Harbour Health Service and doctors from the National Quarantine Unit conducted a drill at the harbour on Friday.
This was done to rehearse standard operational procedure which could be adopted in the event of transferring a suspected COVID-19 contracted patient from a ship to the relevant hospital ashore and quarantining a particular area on the land.
The drill was carried out by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) unit of the Sri Lanka Navy in partnership with the Suwaseriya Ambulance Service, the Colombo Harbour Firefighting Unit, the Harbour Health Service and doctors from the National Quarantine Unit after the World Health Organisation declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic.
The drill focused on how fast as possible the contracted patients could be transferred to a relevant hospital safely, how they could be rushed for treatment expeditiously and what precautionary measures should be taken to stop further spreading.
This proactive measure was initiated by Navy Commander Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva and was witnessed by Western Naval Area Commander Rear Admiral Sumith Weerasinghe, senior naval officers, officials from the Ports Authority and a group of naval personnel.