16 Guardsmen join virus screening detail

Sixteen medics will be assigned to the covid-19 screening center today at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences campus in Little Rock, the Arkansas National Guard confirmed Thursday.

Six Arkansas Air Guard medics from the 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville will be assigned to the screening center at UAMS, said Bob Oldham, a spokesman with the Arkansas National Guard. They will be joined by the 10 Army Guard medics who will be reassigned from the call center at the Arkansas Department of Health

Lt. Col. Brian Mason, a National Guard spokesman, said the National Guard is a “resource pool of highly trained soldiers and airmen” who are able to serve during a “wide range” of emergencies when called upon by the governor.

The Arkansas National Guard had previously sent 20 soldiers to help the state’s health department answer coronavirus-related questions from the public. The first five were assigned last weekend and another 15 were assigned Monday, according to the National Guard.

The mission at UAMS will last until at least March 30, Oldham said.

The covid-19 drive-thru screening center at UAMS is located at Shuffield and Jack Stephens drives. The center is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day.

Those who arrive at the triage screening area are instructed to park outside, remain in their vehicles and call a phone number posted outside. That is how visitors are required to register for a screening.

The state had 62 cases as of Thursday afternoon. Pulaski County, where the UAMS campus is located, is one of three counties in the state with at least 10 reported cases.

As of Monday, governors across 23 states had mobilized personnel from their Army and Air National Guard to assist those on the front lines of the covid-19 pandemic, according to the Military Times. Puerto Rico also has activated guardsmen.