An Cosantóir

15 COVID CALL CENTRE CPL S. SINGLETON SECONDMENT TO JOINT TASK FORCE COVID-19 & HSE CALL CENTRE Comdt Coolahan briefs the Minister for Defence Simon Coveney TD on his visit to the JTF back in June 2020 Defence Forces Cadet John Higgins working at the contact-tracing call-centre in the O'Brien Science Centre in UCD back in March Colonel Stephen Ryan of the JTF greets minister for Defence Simon Coveney TD to the JTF back in June 2020 might come across making calls to the general public. Our role at the call centre was various and following a ten- hour shift that first day, all our personnel were pretty much up to speed on the task at hand and what was required from us. The EIR building call centre in total was manned on two floors by both civilian and military staff including Defence Forces Army School of Music personnel. The civilian personnel were made up of mostly retired health care professionals, agency staff, students and serving Health Service Executive staff members; basically people from all walks of life making a difference in their own way and for whatever reason as they say in certain circles and to paraphrase - we the citizens of Ireland again are "putting our shoulders to the wheel" to try combat this pandemic. Initially, the Air Corps, CMU South and DFTC personnel were separated into two shifts, consisting of ten hours per shift. I was selected for shift one which consisted of five ten-hour shifts straight on the first week and the three ten-hour shifts thereafter. A task which most Defence Forces personnel are familiar with, the long days, the hard slog, sometimes without remuneration with no questions asked, but we always complete the mission. Our role in the call centre using the Health Service Executive database was to contact members of the public to inform them they had either tested positive for Covid 19 "Call Ones" or contacting close contacts "Call Twos" of general members of the public. Most were quite amicable when contacted although sometimes shocked to receive the call. They were mostly well versed on what actions and precautions to take when dealing with Covid – 19. Most calls made, lasted between fourteen and twenty minutes and my shift average was between thirty and thirty-five calls. Our role was to advise members of the public on current HSE guidelines and to offer advice concerning the Virus and what actions and precautions they needed to take. In one case I found myself giving advice to a doctor who was in close contact. Although I felt uncomfortable giving advice to a qualified Doctor, she remained polite and courteous during the call, a true professional. In another case I spoke to an elderly lady who asked while I was advising her, if I was from the Defence Forces, and I informed her that I was. She replied, "I knew it! You Army lads have a bit of humanity in you". I was very proud to receive such a remark from a member of the public. During my second week manning the call centre I had the pleasure again after so many years of meeting Brigadier General Brendan Mc Guinness, Commander - Joint Task Force (JTF) accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Murphy OC Ops Cell - Joint Task Force (JTF) Covid - 19 who arrived at the call centre for a courtesy visit which was a pleasant surprise for me as I served with Brigadier General Mc Guinness overseas with 57th Infantry Battalion UNIFIL in 1985, when he was a young lieutenant. After a few minutes catching up he continued on with his visit, being fully briefed by a member of staff from the HSE. Unfortunately, as they say in military circles "the plug was pulled" on the military call centre involvement at the end of January 2021, but I immensely enjoyed my time working on secondment in the call centre and will have long-lasting memories as a member of our Defence Forces, dealing with members of the public and learning first hand how much they actually appreciate all our serving members past and present and although not obvious at times to us, we do not go unnoticed by our wonderful citizens of Ireland. For this, as members of the Defence Forces past and the present, we can all stand tall and proud.

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