The Armed Forces have disinfected over 5,000 facilities,
half of which are nursing homes
is participating in a clinical trial that aims
to obtain “hyperimmune plasma” from
donors who have had the disease. This
scientific trial, led by the Puerta de Hierro
hospital, is based on the premise that the
antibodies generated by those who have
overcome the coronavirus can be used to
cure patients.
In addition, the Navy has sent the
amphibious assault ship Galicia to Melilla
to reinforce the city’s hospital capacity.
Adapted as a hospital ship, it has eight
ICU beds, two operating theatres, a triage
room, a laboratory, X-ray equipment
and a dental practice. In addition, two
ambulances, a medicalized helicopter
and a contingent of Marines have been
brought on board and the latter have
begun to carry out disinfection tasks in the
port and other areas.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT
Psychological care is another aspect that
has been strengthened. Three guides
have been prepared, aimed at those
involved in the operation, health personnel
and military and civilian personnel
of the Department, with appropriate
recommendations for each of these
groups. “They have been distributed
to all Defence units and hospitals and
their content will be expanded as new
situations arise that have to be faced”,
explains the head of the psychology unit
of the Inspectorate-General for Defence
Health, Lieutenant Colonel José Miguel
García Real.
In addition, a hotline has been set up for
military personnel involved in Operation
Balmis, 91 422 28 80, which is manned by
psychologists and can be called by those
who need this type of support, as well as
advice on other issues, such as managing
their own teams or working with the civilian
population.
These professionals are also deployed
with on-site forces. “The psychology unit
of the UME has been reinforced with 19
psychology officers and, if necessary, the
same will be done with those of the Army,
Navy and Air Force”, stresses García Real.
They also provide support to nursing
homes and other vulnerable groups, and
maintain telephone contact with the staff
of these centres. “They are professionals
who are under great stress. They have
an enormous vocation and feel very
concerned about their elders, with whom
they live on a daily basis”, says the head
of the Psychology unit at IGESAN.
In addition to these measures, the
Under-Secretariat of Defence, through
the Equality and Social Support Division,
makes telephone calls to military personnel
and older family members who may be
The Military Central Hospital Gómez Ulla has reinforced its staff.
in a situation of vulnerability or isolation.
Hundreds of calls are made every day,
mostly to retired military personnel and
widowed spouses over 82 years of age,
to check on their condition and attend to
their needs.
FIELD HOSPITALS
Operation Balmis collaborates with
numerous logistics and military transport
specialists in the construction and start-up
of several field hospitals, which has made
it possible to provide new spaces for
medical coverage to patients. In Madrid,
the facilities of the Gregorio Marañón, La
Paz and Doce de Octubre hospitals have
been expanded, as have those of the
Príncipe de Asturias University Hospital
in Alcalá de Henares, and the Alcorcón
Foundation and Getafe hospitals. In
Leganés, a sports centre has been fitted
out to relieve the emergency department
of the Severo Ochoa hospital.
The Armed Forces have also reinforced
the capacities of hospitals in Albacete,
Calatayud, Melilla, Murcia, Reinosa
(Cantabria), Santa Cruz de Tenerife,
Segovia, Valladolid, as well as the Military
Central Hospital Gómez Ulla and the
Pepe Díaz
Zaragoza military hospital. Outside the
latter, an area has been set up to carry
out drive-through coronavirus detection
tests. Military personnel are also working
to activate field hospitals in Alicante,
Castellón, Sabadell and Valencia.
A team from the UME moved to
l’Hospitalet de Llobregat at the end of
March to study the possibility of building
one of these hospitals at the Barcelona
Trade Fair, initially with 300 beds, which
could be extended to another 2,000.
The project is taking shape, as it did in
IFEMA in Madrid, which is equipped to
accommodate 5,500 beds and 49 ICU
beds (see box). In addition, patient triage
modules have been built in León, Oviedo
April 2020 Revista Española de Defensa 21