The Vermont National Guard is calling service members to active duty in order to combat the coronavirus.
National Guard leaders are working with the State Emergency Operations Center in Vermont to prepare for the possibility of hospitals reaching capacity. Vermont National Guard Public Affairs Officer Captain Mikel Arcovitch says the Guard is preparing many services.
“Setting up facilities that could contain overflow, personnel to establish the facilities, personnel to perform medical functions, and whatever sort of equipment we have on hand – and I don’t have the exact equipment that we have – but equipment to provide to the facilities.”
Additionally, five airmen are handling the logistics of an emergency FEMA warehouse, stocked with equipment for creating a temporary hospital.
Arcovitch says the last time the Vermont National Guard was called into active status was last year during flooding, and before that was in response to Hurricane Irene.