Western Isles coastguards are playing a key role in the islands’ response to the coronavirus emergency, from patient transfer and medical supply drivers to logistics co-ordinating and watch-keeping.
Four specially- adapted minibuses with coastguard volunteer drivers are on standby across the Outer Hebrides to take residents with suspected Covid symptoms to their local hospital for testing, and to return them to their homes afterwards.
The vehicles, adapted to conform to social distancing, have been donated on loan by Arnold Clark to NHS Western Isles.
They are manned by specially trained coastguard volunteers, as part of the islands’ multi-agency response to the current emergency.
The drivers have also been trained in decontaminating the vehicles after each trip.
The minibuses can be called upon by people without access to personal transport who may be displaying symptoms of Covid-19 and can’t get to the community assessment hubs at the Western Isles hospital in Stornoway, Uist and Barra hospital in Benbecula and St Brendan’s on Barra by any other safe means.
The booking system is managed directly by the assessment hubs, and the vehicles are also being used to transport testing samples from the care homes as part of the ‘test and protect’ strategy.
Stornoway coastguard is also supplying three of its highly-trained local officers on a rota basis as to act co-ordinator/watchkeeper in the operations room at NHS Western Isles to deal with planning and capabilities support.
They have worked closely alongside army liaison officers from Salisbury, NHS Western Isles emergency planners and local NHS management to provide a single point of contact for logistics assistance such as medical oxygen movements, emergency movement of medical supplies, some patient transfers and Covid- testing resilience plans.
Paul Tunstall, maritime operations specialist, praised the skills of the three coastguard officers involved, Ireme Macritchie, Maggie Mackay and Michele Mackay.
He said: “This has made good use of their decision-making and co-ordination skills.
“I would like to thank them and volunteer members of the public for the way they have jumped in, utilised their skill sets and worked seamlessly and often innovatively with local resilience partners.”
