01.04.2020.

Minister Vulin at the Karaburma Military Medical Centre: We have carried out the Supreme Commander’s order by setting up a hospital in 10 days

- The Serbian Armed Forces have carried out the order of the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, who gave us 10 days to finish this hospital. Thanks to the great effort of all the employees of the Military Construction Institution, as well as "Messer" and "Drager" Companies, we managed to turn this hospital, which could not boast its appearance or its capacities, into a hospital which meets all the required standards for the treatment of medium and severely ill Covid-19 patients - said the Minister of Defence, Aleksandar Vulin, who visited the Karaburma Military Medical Centre in Belgrade with the State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Berislav Vekić, MD.

As the Minister of Defence pointed out, the military medical facility has been provided with full oxygen supply, it has 106 connections and a capacity of 100 beds.

- We can put 60 respirators into operation immediately. So far, we have provided 12 respirators here from the resources and capacities of the Military Medical Academy, and the moment the competent authorities decide that it is necessary to put this hospital in operation to fight Covid-19, we can do it. Whenever we get the order, we will execute it, ” said Minister Vulin.

We can fight for the lives of 60 people here, and we would not have been able to do that without the President's efforts, if it had not been for such an organized and strong state, Minister Vulin emphasized.

- All the capacities of the Serbian Armed Forces have been put to use in the fight against the virus. The military will do whatever they can to make us all safer and more secure, and each of us needs to think about what he or she can do to make entire Serbia healthier and safer, ” said Minister Vulin.

The State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Berislav Vekić, MD, emphasized "an extremely good cooperation between military and civilian healthcare systems”.
- I made sure that the conditions were made for the provision of medical care to the most severely ill patients in this military establishment. Everything is ready and the most important thing is that the necessary conditions – separation of “clean” and “dirty” streams of traffic, have been adequately resolved here - said Vekić.

According to the Commander of Karaburma Military Hospital, Lieutenant Colonel Ivo Udovičić, anaesthesiologist, the preparations of the hospital for the reception of the first patients with Covid-19 are in their final stage.

- I hope that, with the help of the military medical logistics and the National Health Insurance Fund, we will be ready to admit the first patients by the weekend. Each bed is equipped with oxygen and medical air, which means that each bed can also be a "respirator bed" for intubated patients as needed - said Colonel Udovičić.
The State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, Bojan Jocić and the Head of the Military Healthcare Department, Brigadier General Uglješa Jovičić, MD, also visited the Karaburma Military Medical Centre today.