HOPE TRAINING FOR DISTRICT EMERGENCY OFFICERS OF PUNJAB CONCLUDES

Lahore: DG Rescue, Punjab Dr. Rizwan Naseer, while addressing the concluding ceremony ofHospital Preparedness for Emergencies (HOPE) Course organized for District Emergency Officers at Emergency Services Academy on Sunday, said that hospital emergency preparedness is equally important to improve emergency treatment of patients. Although, a pre-hospital emergency management system has been established by Rescue 1122, which was earlier non-existent but it is equally important to ensure hospital emergency preparedness and management to ensure best care for the emergency victims.

This course was conducted in collaboration with National Health Emergency Preparedness & Response Network (NHEPRN), Network for Disaster Management Practitioners (NDMP) and Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) for District Emergency Officers of Punjab.  The HOPE training Course is a capacity building and technical assistance program for medical facility staff and healthcare personnel, both medical and non medical, to prepare healthcare facilities to respond effectively to community emergencies involving large numbers of casualties.

The course enables staff to develop disaster preparedness plans to respond, based on best-practice guidelines. Instructors and practitioners are trained with HOPE and expert assistance is provided on enhancing medical facility preparedness. HOPE is a component of Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER) – a regional program initiated by USAID/OFDA. The goal is to enhance local and regional disaster preparedness and response capacities of vulnerable countries in Asia.

During this five-daylong courses, the skills pertaining to Disaster Risk Management; Disaster Epidemiology and Patterns of Injury, Structural & Non Structural Components, Functional Collapse of Hospitals, Techno Industrial Disasters, Complex Emergencies, Epidemics & Emerging Infections, Mass Casualty Incident, Mass Gathering Medical Care, Principles of Disaster Medicines, Pre-hospital care, Triage, Hospital Incident Command System, Hospital Preparedness Planning, Emergency Department, Hospital Internal Disasters, Onsite Medical Care, Inter Agency Coordination, Disaster Risk Communication, Mass Fatality Management, Psychological Consequences of Disasters and Return to Normal Health Operations were imparted among the participants of these courses.

Addressing the ceremony, DG Rescue said that Programs for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER) were launched in 2007 at Emergency Services Academy and contributed a lot in capacity building of emergency services in Pakistan, as a result of which now PES contains a large number of certified PEER instructors and graduates, who are regularly organizing the trainings for rescuers and also for paramedical staff. He further said that HOPE training is an addition to further enhance the capacity of hospitals in management of emergencies.

Dr. Rizwan Naseer congratulated course instructors and participants and hoped that the knowledge they gained from HOPE Course, the district emergency officers shall assist the district hospitals and the health administration to review hospital emergency preparedness plans in the light of best international practice.

This is important as even if the patient survives at the site but later is not managed properly in the hospital, it shall lead to an increase in morbidity and mortality. He also thanked Prof. Dr. Iqbal Lehri, Director General, National Health Preparedness & Response Network, Dr. Muhammad Saeed Minhas, (JPMC, Karachi) and Dr. Falak Nawaz, the CEO Network for Disaster Management Practitioners and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center for their cooperation and contribution towards capacity building of long neglected emergency services in Pakistan.