PANDEMIC RELIEF EFFORTS


Reversing in for loading. The plane was loaded from both the front and rear by the plane’s own crane.


and completing the necessary subsequent inspection and checks, took about four hours in all, being completed in the early hours of Friday morning. Glenn Meikle from WJM and I opened up all the containers once they were on board to see that they were prepared for flight, including that they complied with all the necessary venting.”


Northern Ireland Health Minister, Robin Swann, and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Naresh Chada, were among those to greet the Antonov and its crew as it touched down at Belfast International Airport, and remained at the airport to witness some of the lifting onto the plane of its precious cargo during an extremely cold, wintry night.


Refuelling in Germany


The Antonov An-124 subsequently took off from Belfast at around mid-day on Friday 7 May, stopping in Leipzig to refuel, before reaching India on the morning of Sunday 9 May local time. The crew reportedly work two-month shifts on the plane, carrying all the necessary parts to effect repairs, which was fortunate, since one engine had developed a fault on the way from Houston in Texas to Belfast. (According to BBC News NI reports, the Antonov has a fuel capacity of 120,000 tonnes, with its fuel tanks taking two and a half hours to fill).


Nigel Keery added that his 20-year-old daughter, Natasha, who is currently in the final year of a Foundation Degree in Mechatronics Engineering at the South Eastern Regional College, had been ‘shadowing’ him for the week up to and including the Antonov’s departure for India. He said: “Natasha had by that point spent 12 weeks in all gaining some valuable experience with the Trust’s Estates Medical Engineering Team. She is going on to study for a degree in Biomedical Engineering at Ulster University. Due to the very tight security and restrictions on numbers, she wasn’t able to get to the airport to see the containers being loaded, but she did see various parts of the concentrators coming into Belfast City Hospital and being


connected up. She was also shadowing me the day the containers were craned onto the trailers at Musgrave Park before being taken to Muckamore, where she was introduced by the Trust’s Chief Executive, Dr Kathy Jack, to the Health Minister, Robin Swann. They discussed students’ difficulties in getting placements during the pandemic in hospitals for engineering, and went on to talk about young women in engineering and their opportunities. “Natasha asked about any associated environmental concerns with the oxygen generators, and their impact, with her queries answered by my colleague, George McCracken.” Natasha Keery said of her experience with the Trust: “I have had a fantastic opportunity with work placement at the Trust, which has greatly helped with my future career direction. It was wonderful to see, and to be a small part of, the relief effort to India, which will have a substantial patient impact for the local people at these hospitals. It makes you realise how important engineering is in the care of patients.”


A positive contribution


Nigel Keery added: “It was very pleasing to be able to contribute positively to the support being provided to India, where – as we have all heard via the media – the country’s health service is under immense pressure with the surge in COVID-19 cases and limited resources. I’d also like to thank my colleague, the Head of Estates Risk and Environment at Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, George McCracken, for his support


on this initiative. He managed the finance and logistics, and worked very closely with me throughout. The DoH NI's Nicola Cullan and Paul Cummings provided support and encouragement throughout too. With COVID, and many of our staff on 24-hour working, we couldn’t bring a lot of other people in. Having committed to the project, we knew we needed to deliver. Another colleague, Steven Johnston, the vice-chair of the IHEEM Northern Ireland Branch, who is Divisional Operations Manager at Musgrave Park Hospital, had installed, commissioned, and maintained, two of the concentrators there, and was a great help – with his team – in facilitating the loading onto lorries of the three India-bound units in the hospital’s car park. Two other members of IHEEM’s Northern Ireland Branch and their staff, Sean McCook and Kevin Taylor, both Divisional Operational Estates Managers, had installed a duplex concentrator at the Mater Hospital, and a single unit at Belfast City Hospital. All in all, this has been an immensely worthwhile initiative, and one that I am sure all involved in will remember for some time to come.


An amazing team effort Arrival of the oxygen generators in Delhi.


“I’d also,” he continued, “like to pay tribute to the amazing team effort from Northern Ireland and the UK that made all this happen quickly. No problem was too much, nor didn’t have a solution. In particular, thanks to the Northern Ireland Department of Health, the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC), The British Embassy India, FCDO Science and Innovation, Hellman Logistics, Alternative Heat, WJM Building Services, CA Services, Precision CPX, and Belfast Trust Estates. “Within a week from leaving Belfast, the first machine is on site and being connected, the whole community is involved, and we are still providing extensive support through videos, photos, and conference calls co-ordinated by the British Embassy India, and FCDO staff in science and development. The first machine is at The Satellite Hospital in Ajmer, Rajasthan, the second in Rajasthan, and the third en route to Assam.”


hej June 2021 Health Estate Journal 43


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