Thousands of Defence Forces personnel on standby for Covid-19 battle
The scene outside the Mercy Hospital, Cork, where the army and navy erected a temporary staff screening tent. Picture Dan Linehan
The Defence Forces are prepared to put “thousands of personnel” into the battle against Covid-19 if the government needs them, according to the senior officer in charge of the military task force response to the virus.
Since the first Level 5 lockdown last March, members of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps have been involved in numerous operations around the country, mainly as an aid to the HSE.
As of today, they have already carried out nearly 45,000 specific duties in the battle against the virus, with around 200 personnel involved every day in major operations, such as airlifting tests for analysis to a laboratory in Germany, transporting patients to hospitals, contact tracing and supplying PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) to the HSE and training people to use it properly.
However, they have put in contingency plans for an even more enhanced contribution in the fight against the virus.
These have been drawn up by military personnel who have degrees in emergency/crisis management and others who have years of experience working in volatile areas around the world where, in their roles as peace-keeping troops, they needed quick responses to what in many cases were life-threatening situations.
In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Brigadier General Brian Cleary, who heads the military joint task force, said they have contingency plans in place to put thousands of soldiers, sailors and aircrews into the battle if the government asks for them.
He said the Defence Forces are helping out at 20 fixed testing centres and will be likely to provide more personnel as the HSE wants to increase them to 30. They have also been involved in creating a number of 'pop up' tented testing centres at meat plants and nursing homes and are primed to install more if required.
Brig Gen Cleary said he believes that in the days and weeks ahead his personnel will be tasked with “stepping up efforts,” particularly in virus testing and contact tracing.
But he said that if the worst came to the worst and the government decreed they could put “thousands” of personnel into the field. “If the call came the Defence Forces would step up its effort,” he said.
The senior officer also said he believed that the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) is “going in the right direction” with a Level 5 lockdown and pointed out that Ireland and Israel are now “two of the top contenders for the most stringent regimes” in the world on lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus.
The Defence Forces have deployed personnel at three contact tracing sites at Collins Barrack, Cork; Custume Barracks, Athlone and Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
“We're currently examining ways of boosting our efforts with contract tracing and putting in additional testers as well,” he said.
Brig Gen Cleary said while the Army is predominantly involved in the Covid-19 fight, the Naval Service has also been utilised, using ships as mobile testing centres.
He acknowledged, however, that the Naval Service has its own issues (manpower crisis/ships tied up) and they needd to be able to conduct their normal day-to-day operations, such as search and rescue, fishery patrols and drugs interdiction.
The senior officer paid tribute to the Naval Service contribution, saying they had brought huge experience into play in relation to the knowledge they'd gained in the use of PPE while on migrant rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea, where they saved more than 18,000 people.
The navy instructed HSE and port workers on the proper use of the equipment.
The Air Corps has also been involved in collecting and storing PPE.
The Army has been marshalling testing sites, undertaking patient transfers, and its engineers have been putting up tents at testing centres and at hospitals. Brig Gen Cleary said they have the ability to make them winter-proof. They also put in beds and special screens at City West, Dublin.
Brig Gen Cleary said the Defence Forces have plans to “bring quick fix, flexible solutions".
“We can surge quickly if the HSE needs that and provide support when time is of the essence. We're used to working in high stress areas (of operation) and responding to where there is most need,” Brig Gen Cleary said.
He admitted though that the operation hasn't been without its challenges.
“It was not a fight we were expecting to get plugged into. The rule book for fighting Covid-19 hasn't been written yet. But this is the type of thing the military are suited to,” Brig Gen Clancy said.
The task force's Covid-19 actions have been named Operation Fortitude. The headquarters for this operation was established at McKee Barracks, Dublin on March 19 last and it is manned by 40 military personnel.
The barracks has also been set up to host inter-agency and government meetings.
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