Calm approach to COVID-19 crisis in the Falklands Islands

This included maintaining a sufficient oxygen supply for wards and general clinical use, protecting elderly and especially vulnerable patients, and reconfiguring or isolating ventilation supply and extract systems as a new ‘zoning’ system was implemented to keep those with COVID-19 away from other patients.

Located in the Islands’ capital, Stanley, the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital is used to dealing with whatever comes through the door, and usually has the ability to evacuate the seriously ill or patients who need specialist care. This all changed when the COVID-19 epidemic started, as international borders closed, and flying to other countries became more difficult. The staff at the KEMH are bracing themselves to receive patients exceeding 300% of what the hospital is designed for, with limited support. 

There are 14 British Overseas Territories in various locations around the world, one of which is the Falkland Islands, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, and lying some 8,000 miles from the UK. The KEMH is a small 29-bedded hospital that serves a small civilian population of about 3,000 people, as well as a significant number of military UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel who are based 35 miles from Stanley at RAF Mount Pleasant. Patients who require specialist care are generally flown to either Chile or the UK, and in the event of some acute cases, emergency evacuation (or ‘Aeromed’) will mean that if a Civilian Air Ambulance is not available, then the RAF will fly those patients to Uruguay. In such cases KEMH will provide clinical and engineering support to meet patient and equipment needs.