RAF in emergency night airlift of critically ill coronavirus patient to England

Stormont’s Department of Health confirmed that there had been multiple requests for military assistance related to the treatment of patients but declined to give details on how the armed forces had assisted.

The Ministry of Defence said that a Royal Air Force A400M Atlas aircraft – a huge transporter which can carry a Chinook helicopter within its cargo hold – had “supported the first medical evacuation from Northern Ireland to the UK mainland during the coronavirus outbreak”.

It said that the patient was taken from Aldergrove to East Midlands Airport “following a request for assistance” and that medical specialists were “on board to attend to the patient throughout the transfer”.

This newspaper understands that the incident last week involved an urgent request to the RAF in the early hours of the morning for a patient who was critically ill and needed transferred for specialist care.

A source with knowledge of the incident said that it had been a “humanitarian” and “purely medical” mission which demonstrated the importance of being able to call on military assistance in a crisis.

Referring to the current situation where few flights are operating between Northern Ireland and GB, he said: “Who else is going to get a plane in to Northern Ireland at two hours’ notice?”

Last month when Health Minister Robin Swann said that he would be formally asking for military assistance to the civil authorities (MACA), Sinn Fein initially said that was unnecessary and objected to the fact that Mr Swann had made the decision himself without bringing it to the Executive, given that military support is controversial to many republicans.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said “we are coping” and “British Army assistance is not necessary at this point”.

However, she then made clear that her party would not stand in the way of such requests if they saved lives.

Two weeks ago the Irish News reported that Mr Swann’s request for military assistance had not been accepted by the military because the criteria for accessing support had at that stage not been met.

The most significant military assistance would involve turning the EiKon Centre at the site of the former Maze Prison into a Nightingale hospital. That has not been necessary in this wave of the pandemic because the outbreak in Northern Ireland has been vastly less severe than feared.

However, it is understood that planning for that continues in preparation for the possibility of further waves of the virus later this year being much deadlier.

The Department of Health said: “The department is receiving military input on the design and specification of a Nightingale facility for a second wave of Covid-19 admissions.

“Formal requests for military assistance are most likely to be required in relation to immediate assistance to transport patients, staff or equipment at short notice or where commercial or other alternatives are not suitable.

“As requests for assistance to date have involved treatment for individual patients, it would not be appropriate to share further details of these.”