These fire officers sprang into action to demonstrate how an automated external defibrillator would work if responding to an emergency.
OVER the last several months, the island’s medical and other frontline workers have been at the forefront of the battle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yesterday, Vice President, Group Life & Health Sagicor Life Inc Susan Boyea said that the pandemichas reinforced to the world the value of essential services and those who provide these services.
She said it was against this backdrop that Sagicor sought to reward their commitment by providing insurance coverage through a Group plan built specifically with them in mind.
“We started in May with the Healthcare Heroes Plan, offering doctors, nurses, pharmacists, opticians, dentists, orderlies and administrative staff, along with their dependents, affordable Life insurance cover, priced lower than what is currently available on the market.”
“In August we followed this up with the launch of the Frontline Heroes Plan, providing similar coverage to those in the protective services, such as the Fire Service, police and security guards; other essential services, including Supermarket workers, ground transport and delivery services; as well as air traffic controllers, pilots and immigration officers, among others.”
Boyea announced that effective October 1st, the Barbados Fire Service Association has come on board to offer this package to its members.
She also used the opportunity to announce the introduction of Stage three of the Front Line Heroes Plan with the inclusion of “Other Necessary Support Services”,
“This means that groups working in social and welfare services, for example, caretakers or caregivers; welfare officers; charity associations and clubs, will now be eligible to join the Frontline Heroes Group Plan.”
Additionally, eligibility is also now extended to utility service providers, sanitation services, energy services, banking and insurance, and also media and telecommunications.
“Any individual from age 18 to 75, actively working in any of these areas, will be eligible to join this group plan, which provides five levels of life insurance coverage, each inclusive of coverage for accidental death and dismemberment and critical illness.”
“When I speak about critical illness, I’m referring to heart attacks, strokes, coronary artery bypass, cancer, multiple sclerosis, kidney failure, major organ transplant, paralysis, deafness and blindness.”
The vice president said this plan has been developed to protect those who protect us. “ We are truly appreciative of the hard work and dedication these individuals display as we continue to battle this unseen enemy. By their actions they are leading from the front, fighting to ensure we have a future to look forward to,” she said.
Boyea’s comments came as she along with Paul Inniss, General Manager Sagicor Life Inc presented the Barbados Fire Service with five automated external defibrillator units at the BFS’s Arch Hall Fire Station yesterday morning.
Inniss noted that the team at Sagicor has joined in the fight to preserve the life, safety and health of our communities through various initiatives not only here in Barbados, but in neighboring and operating territories of Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Belize, the Dutch-Caribbean territories of Aruba and Curacao and the islands of the Eastern Caribbean.
Efforts include: the donation of three thermal imaging scanners, one at the QEH and two at the Grantley Adams International Airport. These full-body scanners assist with identifying potential carriers of the virus as they enter our island and the nation’s primary medical facility.
Other efforts include the provision of relief to policyowners through moratoriums and payment plans and the provision of relief and assistance to those in the community by donating food supplies and personal care packages. “Sagicor as a provider for Health and Life insurance Products & Services, is committed to our vision of improving the lives of those in the communities in which we operate, with the area of health being one of our key Corporate Social Responsibility pillars,” Inniss said. (JH)
