An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir May 2020 www.dfmagazine.ie 36 | BY CONOR SHERIDAN A s the battle against Covid-19 has intensi- fied across the world and here at home, many stories have come to light of the incredible work and fundraising being carried out by volunteers across the globe. This includes reserves and specialists in Oglaigh na hÉireann, who are providing support to the HSE to defend and protect the people of Ireland. One such example of this is Ireland's Call Initiative, set up by Pte Neil Sands in late March. Pte Sands is based out of the 27th Infantry Battalion AR, Aiken Barracks in Dundalk, and is currently undertaking the PO course in Defence Force Training Centre in the Curragh. He is the fourth generation of his family in the Defence Forces - most notably his grandfather, Cmdt. Peter Sands served with distinction in the former 8th Battalion, also out of Louth. A design entrepreneur, Pte Sands has spent the last decade in global technology roles and served as Chief Experience Officer at tech company Salesforce in California. It was in California in 2015 that Neil had his first foray into civic fundraising when, in his role as president of the Irish Network Bay Area, he aided the Depart- ment of Foreign Affairs in the repatriation of the six Irish students who lost their lives in the Berkeley balcony collapse. The idea for the current campaign, the Ireland's Call Initiative (ICI), began to grow in March as concerns were raised about poten- tial shortfalls in Ireland's medical staffing. The virus presents an enormous challenge to Ireland's healthcare system and while the social distancing measures implemented by the Government have flattened the curve, this will result in a lengthened demand for healthcare workers which could last for months. Figures show that around 24% of all Irish cases are healthcare workers, meaning the work that Ireland's Call is doing is vital in providing reinforcements to step up and help wherever they are needed. An initial offer in late March to pay for flights for two doc- tors to make their way home to Ireland, and self isolate in the home Sands was vacating; gathered momentum and now has international support. "I am a big believer that when things are at their worst, Irish people are at their best. We started this campaign with the idea that it could be a show of solidarity. The reserve defence forces are a huge part of that, serving in both civilian and military capacities." Pte Sands said. "For the public, eve though people are at home, they can still pull on the green jersey and get involved by donating towards getting these healthcare workers home to answer Ireland's Call. These healthcare workers stranded abroad want to return home to Ireland in its hour of need, and we should do everything we can to support that. It's our chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with our front line." Ireland's Call is working with the Department of Foreign Affairs, airlines and travel agents to create pathways to source and fund flights for healthcare workers across the globe, with medical practitioners coming home to join the front line in Ireland. Upon their return home, Ireland's Call is also supporting the healthcare workers with accommodation to self-isolate effectively for 14 days. ICI has even received numerous offers from generous members of the public offering up their spare properties to medics across the length and breadth of the country.. After an initial six-figure seed fund for Ireland's Call was pro- vided by Irish and Irish-American donors from the private sector, the campaign gained increased exposure and support from the public and a GoFundMe page on its website has seen over €33,000 donated in just over 3 weeks, showing it to be an initiative that everyone can get behind. The campaign is being run on Twitter (@ ICinitiative) with the hashtag #AnswerIrelandsCall and through a dedicated website – www.AnswerIrelandsCall.com – which has been visited by medical professionals in over 30 countries. To date, the Initiative has flown home 27 healthcare workers from Australia, New Zealand and Canada home to Ireland. Contin- ued arrivals from these countries and from the US, the Philippines and Pakistan are expected to grow that number to over 50 by mid- May. In total, Ireland's Call has financed over 100 flights since the end of March, and a cumulative distance of 523,594 kilometres has been flown returning Ireland's medics to the front line. ICI is an All-Ireland project, and has seen medics return to work in hospitals across the island, encompassing both HSE and NHS hospitals in Northern Ireland. The medics that have returned home have been assigned to areas such as Kilkenny, Galway, Belfast, Limerick and Dublin. The other healthcare workers are waiting to be assigned as the HSE deals with the incredibly positive response to its recruitment drive. The Initiative's first arrival, on the 4th of April, was Dr. Marianne Hennigan who touched down in Dublin following a journey home from Auckland. Dr. Hennigan had lived in Perth, Australia for al- most three years and was working at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hos- pital as a locum doctor in emergency medicine. She was travelling in New Zealand when the country went into an almost immediate lockdown. Her flight back to Perth was abruptly cancelled with no replacement available. In that moment, Dr. Hennigan made up her mind to not return to Perth at all, but to make her way back to Ireland to help out on the front line. "Getting out of New Zealand looked like it wasn't going to happen and I was starting to think that I was going to be stuck there for the Pte Neil Sands Dr. Mariane Hennigan home from NewZealand

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