Defence Forces invited onto EU pandemic think-tank
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The experience gained by the Defence Forces aiding the country's battle against Covid-19 has resulted in their invitation into an EU think-tank project to prepare to tackle future global pandemics.
The Defence Forces will have a place on the advisory board of PANDEM-2, a €10m EU-funded pandemic preparedness and response project coordinated by the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway).
It is being viewed as "a significant milestone" for the Defence Forces, which despite being short of 1,000 personnel, were heavily involved in the effort against Covid-19, with the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps all participating in protecting the nation.
In addition to their interagency activities during the Covid-19 response, the Defence Forces played a key role in supporting the HSE.
This included the construction and operation of testing centres, patient transport and mass vaccination rollout through the Joint Task Force (JTF).
They also supported the HSE following the cyberattack in May 2021, which led to additional challenges in the management of the pandemic.
To date, Defence Forces personnel have provided 122,698 days of duty aiding the HSE in the Covid-19 fight.
PANDEM-2 aims to strengthen the EU’s response to future pandemics through the development of IT systems, supported by training for pandemic managers.
A key objective of the project is to apply what has been learnt from responses to Covid-19, both in Ireland and in other EU states.
As part of their advisory board role, the Defence Forces will participate in a tabletop exercise (TTX) with project partners in Berlin this month.
Their participation will bring extensive defence sector experience in drills and exercises as well as knowledge they gained during the Covid-19 response.
The TTX will take place alongside a number of national public health agencies meetings across Europe in the setting of a public health emergency operations centre.
The overall aim is to utilise the lessons learnt from Covid-19 to improve future pandemic preparedness in Europe.
Professor Máire Connolly, coordinator of the PANDEM-2 project, and expert in global health at NUI Galway, said they were very proud to have the Defence Forces onboard.
“They provided vital support to the Covid-19 response in Ireland, bringing logistical, operational and planning experience to a number of key aspects of pandemic management including implementation of the testing, tracing and vaccination programmes, deployment of ambulances and medical staff, non-clinical support in nursing homes, mandatory hotel quarantine, and transportation of PPE.
"Their invaluable experience will significantly strengthen the project’s outputs and help meet our goal of improving the EU’s response to future pandemics," Prof Connolly said.
The PANDEM-2 Advisory Board is made up of international experts in pandemic preparedness, including members of the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.