"On the operations we are having at the moment, it is completely wrong to say that the loss of lives has been caused by the absence of helicopters,".

VOA: standard.2009.07.22

Staff at North Bristol NHS Trust said the problem had led to some patients missing their operations and the wrong patients being booked for operations.

BBC: Patient booking problem at Bristol hospitals 'fixed soon'

And though some EU countries are willing to shoulder burdens (Estonia, the Netherlands, Sweden and Poland are among the toughies), most have the wrong weapons for global operations.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

In Agency operations, things go wrong and you have to have backup plans.

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