How National Guard members are helping hospitals on the brink during delta surge

In recent weeks, several states have deployed hundreds of National Guard service members to help overwhelmed and understaffed hospitals dealing with COVID-19 surges.

When Lt. Nathan Brashear saw the call for National Guard service members to help as hospitals were reaching a crisis point during Kentucky's delta surge, he didn't hesitate to volunteer. For about two weeks, Brashear, a member of the Kentucky Army National Guard, has been leading a team of 30 National Guard members at The Medical Center at Bowling Green, doing "everything little thing" they can to help give the hospital staff a much-needed break. "That's one thing that makes this mission so important to us as soldiers," Brashear, who was a deputy jailor before he went on active-duty orders, told ABC News. "We live and work in these communities. So for us to be able to support the communities is something that really impacts us." In recent weeks, several states have deployed hundreds of National Guard service members to help overwhelmed and understaffed hospitals, as COVID-19 hospitalization rates have reached points not seen during the pandemic.