Military personnel are being deployed to help the overstretched Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital cope with the pressure of treating Covid patients.
“It s logical that the military are brought in at a time of national need.”
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust paramedics training soldiers from the 1st Queens Dragoons Guards during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Credit: UK Ministry of Defence 2020
He added: “The military is quite prepared to do whatever the nation asks, whether it is to deploy on overseas operations or counter insurgency or equally we always understand that military aid to the civilian authorities is part of our duties.
“If the nation requires us to do stuff at home we will do stuff at home in an enthusiastic fashion. It is all part of the service.”
Covid-19: Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital requests military help
By Laurence Cawley
image copyrightBlue Sky UAV
image captionAbout one in six of all staff at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is currently either off sick or having self-isolate because a member of their family has the coronavirus.
Hospitals across England are facing an unprecedented struggle against Covid-19. At one hospital, staff could soon be backed up by combat medical technicians and furloughed council employees. We ve never had the military help out here before, says Prof Erika Denton, the medical director at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. This is the most challenged the NHS has ever been. It is unprecedented.
A hero firefighter involved in the dramatic rescue of an elderly man and woman from a submerged car in Norfolk said his team arrived in the nick of time.