The
Daily Express have reported that the soldiers in the UK have been enlisted and put on standby to
"save the frail and elderly if this winter is as devastating as last year."The article goes on to state, "Level 1 would see the roll-out of general preparations across the NHS, such as the flu vaccination programme.
Health and social care teams will identify those at risk in prolonged sub-zero temperatures, and battle strategies will be drawn up.
Level 2 would kick in when there is a 60 per cent chance of severe winter weather arriving within two or three days.
At this stage the teams would visit vulnerable pensioners to ensure their homes are insulated and heated and that they have claimed all additional benefits they are entitled to.
Media campaigns would be launched offering advice on staying warm, stocking up on medications and food, checking room temperatures and keeping an eye on vulnerable neighbours.
The thick blanket of snow that brought parts of the country to a standstill last year would be defined as Level 3.
In this event health and social care teams would make street-by-street visits or daily phone calls to at-risk residents.
This would require the help of local volunteers. It means the pensioner has a “champion” to ensure emergency action is taken if, say, a boiler has broken down.
A Level 4 alert would come if conditions were so bad that ordinary ambulance services could not get the sick to hospital.
This would be the stage at which the Army could be called in."
The article is just one of more and more stories popping up in the national press concerning the oncoming winter. Although we are currently experiencing unseasonably high temperatures for this time of year, the general feel is that we're playing a waiting game and that the weather is set to turn very cold, very quickly.
As a nation, we can all agree that schemes such as the one above are pivotal in keeping the more vulnerable amongst us safe this winter and, if the upcoming cold is being taken so seriously as to enlist the support of the army it is essential that we all follow suit and prepare ourselves for the likelihood of the coldest winter seen in over twenty years!
It is vital that rock salt supplies are secured early on if we are all to 'weather the storm'. As always, Dandy's would urge everyone to jump up now and grab their salt while stocks last and before it's too late. Once you're in three feet of snow; you're in!
