British Soldiers To Support Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust

British Army personnel have been mobilised to support the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust's (WAST) frontline response to coronavirus.

Forty-eight soldiers are already training support WAST in roles likely to include emergency response and driving ambulances when required, with another 20 to follow in the next week.

The soldiers were drawn from British Army units allocated to Joint Military Command Wales.

Joint Military Command Wales has a fully stood up UK Operations Room at Brecon Barracks.

The soldiers will be taken through a two-day training package delivered by the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Speaking to Forces News at Sennybridge Camp in Brecon, Brigadier Andrew Dawes said they are "ready for anything".

"In moments like this, we are not in charge of anything, we are not leading anything, we are just adding capacity and supporting those who are really in charge of this crisis, in particular NHS Wales.

"If there's anything that we can do, we'll get it done," he added.

"We are all in it together," Brig Dawes said, referring to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

He added that to be part of the efforts to protect the communities and support the NHS is "a great privilege". 

"The thing that distinguishes this UK operation to other operations that I've been involved in is the sense of scale.

"The scale of this is the piece that really defines this particular crisis," he said.

Cover image: Members of the Army in Wales received airways training in preparation to their mobilisation in support of the WAST (Picture: MOD).