EDF ready to aid hospitals with equipment and personnel in battling covid
Minister of Defense Kalle Laanet (Reform) stressed in a letter sent to Minister of Health and Labor Tanel Kiik (Center) readiness to support hospitals battling the coronavirus with additional paramedics and respirators, if the crisis deepens further. The Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) are also prepared to call reservists up.
Currently, the EDF has allocated 10 respirators to the West Tallinn Regional Hospital (LTKH). In the near future, the EDF has the capacity to provide an additional 15 respirators to hospitals, its chief doctor, Lt. Col. Targo Lusti, says.
Lusti added that at the North Estonia Medical Center (PERH), also in Tallinn,, five EDF paramedics are to continue working in weekly shifts, and the EDF is also ready to implement reservists there.
The EDF employs both paramedics and conscripts who have completed combat medicine training. The next batch of conscripts, called up this month, will complete their training as paramedics in early December, meaning they, too, will be ready to help if necessary.
The exact amount of assistance provided depends on the needs of the medical system and the request for professional assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino
