Canadian Armed Forces releases details about Saskatchewan COVID-19 support

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is releasing more details about how military personnel are being deployed to help Saskatchewan’s overburdened health-care system.

CAF officials say there are three lines of operation currently being sent to support the province:

• An aeromedical evacuation team, which includes one medical specialist, two critical care nurses and regular flight crew.
• A team of six critical care nursing officers and one senior nursing officer, which will work at the Regina General Hospital and are expected to start regular shift work by Thursday.
• A team to provide nursing support in non-acute/acute wards, including four general duty nursing officers and four medical technicians. They will work at the Regina General Hospital and backfill Saskatchewan Health Authority nurses to support the intensive care unit surge and support pressure on acute care in the province. They are expected to start later this week.

CAF personnel will only begin work after completing mandated training and are expected to continue to support SHA staff until Nov. 17, but the CAF says it is prepared to extend this deadline if necessary.

CAF officials say an Aeromedical Bio-containment Evacuation System (ABES) has been installed on a C-130J Hercules aircraft based out of Trenton, Ont., and is being used to transfer patients between Saskatchewan and Ontario.

The ABES’s isolation unit allows multiple infected patients to be kept and treated by medical staff while ensuring the safety of the aircraft’s crew.

The CAF says the aircraft returns to 8 Wing Trenton on a regular basis to change aircrews.

The first aeromedical evacuation flight arrived in Saskatoon on Monday evening and departed for Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday with one patient.

0:52 Military ICU flight takes off from Saskatoon airport