It’s a rare occasion when, as the editor of RotorHub, I get to write about military helicopters, but these are extraordinary times that the UK finds itself in. Once again, the nation has asked its armed forces to step-up and assist the wider population. In particular, military helicopters are playing a vital role in supplying urgently needed equipment to hospitals up and down the UK, and look set to be equipped to move patients infected by the coronavirus, if and when the NHS asks.
Dubbed the ‘COVID Aviation Task Force’, helicopters from all three-armed services, along with personnel, have been established to transport equipment and key medical personnel anywhere in the country. In addition, further helicopters are on standby to help NHS medics airlift coronavirus patients from anywhere in the UK, including the Channel Islands.
The Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, and the Army Air Corps have all supplied staff and equipment to the Task Force to assist in the crisis.
In order to standardise procedures across the force, an exercise was practised on 9 April at an airfield in Hampshire, where the various teams learned how each operates, and also how to remain safe when transporting a patient.
Commander Chris Knowles, the CO of 820 Naval Air Squadron, the helicopter squadron for the Royal Navy’s carrier strike group, has previously flown medical evacuations during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Knowles stated that his squadron may need to operate their Merlin helicopters in a different way when carrying NHS medics aboard, but assured those present at the exercise that everyone was up to the task.
Credit: Sky News
