Firefighters in West London had to wear full respirators to remove a suspected coronavirus patient during an emergency yesterday. 

Crews wore the protective breathing kit – normally used to avoid smoke inhalation – on an aerial platform in Shepherd’s Bush, where all three emergency services helped the unidentified patient’s removal by a crane. 

The patient was taken from their home in a three story apartment building, with firefighters wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid contracting Covid-19, which has hit London particularly hard. The patient’s condition is unknown and it is unclear where they were taken next.

The incident meant Uxbridge Road was closed for an hour while the delicate operation was completed.

Ambulance workers decontaminated the scene and reusable equipment before moving on. 

A police officer commented that the Metropolitan Police are issued only with rubber gloves.

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Metro.co.uk have contacted the London Fire Brigade for further comment.  

It comes as a new partnership between the organisation and London Ambulance Service is set to see firefighters volunteer to help their emergency colleagues out in a number of roles during the crisis, the two services announced yesterday. 

London Ambulance Service chief executive Garrett Emmerson explained: ‘We are already dealing with unprecedented levels of demand as a result of Covid-19 – more than 11,000 people are calling 999 for an ambulance every day – and we know the peak of the pandemic is still to come.

‘As part of our preparations we must reach out to all our partners to help boost our response so we can continue to treat every patient who needs us during this difficult time.’

London Fire Brigade Commissioner Andy Roe added: ‘We are committed to doing all we can to support a joint emergency response in the capital to Covid 19. Within hours of us agreeing the detail of how we can support London Ambulance Service and NHS partners, we had hundreds of firefighters step forward to volunteer. 

‘We’ve changed our operations to reduce non-critical training and some of the community safety work that we can’t do at this time, in order to maintain our operational resilience and provide support such as this for however long the situation lasts.’

The Mayor of London has welcomed the plans.

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