In response to significant concerns at the start of the pandemic about the potential impact of COVID-19 on the health of offshore workers, operators in the Southern North Sea (SNS) came together for the first time through the HSE Hub, to collaborate on finding the best solution for protecting their workers.
RMI, which specialises in saving lives and protecting the health and wellbeing of workers on remote and diverse sites across the world, partnered with the CHC, to deliver a solution to suit the needs of the SNS operators through a COVID-19 medical evacuation service.
Ensuring operational uptime
RMI and CHC developed a ‘COVID Copter’ evacuation plan designed to minimise risk to all involved. The COVID Copter service, in effect since the start of the pandemic in 2020, guarantees that oil and gas industry employees with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 can be safely ‘repatriated’ back to land, while limiting risk to other employees and ensuring operational uptime.
Working with CHC and the consortium, RMI built a set of robust end-to-end protocols and procedures, including liaising with the offshore medics to ensure a proper handover take place. In transit, patients are accompanied by an RMI medic to guarantee they are appropriately cared for and that all infection prevention processes are followed. Once back onshore, RMI medics ensure the safe handover of patients to their onshore medical care provider.
Rapidly-spreading outbreak
The COVID Copters are scrubbed down and prepared for the next potential flight
After completing repatriations for patients, the COVID Copters are scrubbed down and prepared for the next potential flight, following COVID-19 infection reduction protocols.
Alex Hammick, Global Operations Director at RMI, commented “To be able to create a solution to protect workers, which met the requirements of the SNS operators, has been a significant success for RMI. At the start of the pandemic, it was immediately clear that a solution was needed to safeguard workers from the potential damage that a rapidly-spreading outbreak of COVID-19 could cause in these unique and challenging sites.”
Rapid solution deployment
Alex Hammick adds, “The solution that we developed in partnership with CHC and the SNS consortium not only ensured the health of our clients’ teams working offshore but also continuity of operations as well.”
He continues, “RMI’s ability to respond to crises with agile and effective solutions for our clients is second to none. Our medics have the experience to protect workers across the world in incredibly varied and dangerous environments and, as the world continues to evolve post-pandemic, this model of rapid solution deployment will remain a key focus for RMI.”
