Redeployable Camp Systems SA (RCSSA) has launched its new FAKDAS field accommodation solution, providing a complete platoon based camping system and addressing the needs of deployed soldiers in the field.
More than 30 members of the Military Attache and Advisory Corps (MAAC) attended the FAKDAS launch last month at RCSSA’s facilities in Irene. FAKDAS stands for Fitness, Accommodation, Kitchen, Dining, Ablution, and Services. The Fitness component is something new for RCSSA and its Bushtec Originals brand that is marketing the FAKDAS concept. The company found that fitness opportunities were lacking in field camps, and this was affecting discipline, fitness and morale. A single Bushfit containerized gym allows up to 20 people to work out simultaneously, doing everything from weightlifting to pull ups, rope climbing etc.
There is military interest in the Bushfit system, but RCS is also seeing interest from commercial environments such as housing complexes. It is also aiming Bushfit at schools and field accommodation such as mining camps, according to Martin Bester, Director: Business Development at the Canvas and Tent Group.
In terms of Accommodation, a wide array of accommodation options is offered, varying according to budget and size – this can be single-man tents to large barrack-style tents for over a dozen soldiers each. Canvas and Tent – through RCSSA – also offers an expandable containerised complete field kitchen that can be rapidly assembled by a team of three to four in 40 minutes and configured with convection ovens, hot plates, frying equipment etc. Dining facilities can include a tented mess hall for over 100 people, while the Ablution component includes bathrooms with showers and basins, and toilets. The Services component of FAKDAS includes all the facilities needed to sustain a field camp, such as power generators, a sewerage plant, water purification equipment etc.
Medical facilities can also be integrated into the FAKDAS concept, with RCSSA able to install a United Nations Level 1 or Level 2 field hospital fully equipped with all the necessary medical facilities and equipment. The company offers a turnkey solution, leveraging on more than 200 suppliers to completely outfit a field hospital. A Level 1 field hospital is the first level of medical care that provides primary healthcare, and immediate lifesaving and resuscitation services. It can treat up to 20 ambulatory patients a day and temporarily hold five patients for up to two days. A Level 2 field hospital is the next level of medical care and the first level where basic surgical expertise is available, with the capacity to perform three to four surgical operations per day, and hospitalise 10-20 sick or wounded for up to seven days, process 40 outpatients a day and five to ten dental consultations per day.
FAKDAS was originally aimed at border protection and border patrol camps, and that is where the fitness solution was originally conceived. While the FAKDAS concept was originally developed for the military, RCSSA is also looking at humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, amongst others, and recently met with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) in this regard. South Africa has been witnessing a growing number of natural disasters – particularly fires and floods – and has need for better disaster management response, including accommodation for the displaced.
Bester explained that his company can supply everything from accommodation for a single man to a 3 000-man camp, for both military and non-military customers. The company offers a diverse range of canvas and PVC fabric structures through its Bushtec Originals brand, specifically tailored for military, mining, commercial and disaster management applications.
FAKDAS and RCSSA’s other offerings will be on display at the September Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition outside Pretoria.
Redeployable Camp Systems SA specialises in the design and supply of redeployable turnkey camps for the medical, military and mining sectors. Services include water purification, storage and reticulation, wastewater management and reticulation, power generation and reticulation, and integration of PVC fabric strictures and containerised solutions. RCSSA provides redeployable camp products such as field hospitals and base camps to militaries around the world as well as exploration and workforce camps to the mining and oil and gas industries. Containerised solutions are manufactured at its Ladysmith plant.
Through Dynamic African Projects, Canvas and Tent provides prefabricated and modular buildings, primarily for the mining and oil and gas industries. This includes canvas tented solutions, containerised systems, and prefab and modular building solutions that are quick and easy to install.
