Ministry of Public Health, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded a Six-day training program on Mass Casualty Management organized as part of a three-year partnership between MoPH, WHO, FIFA and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
The partnership, which was formally launched in October 2021, aims to make the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 a beacon for physical and mental health promotion, and a model for ensuring future mega sport events are healthy and safe, through the integration of three key pillars: health promotion; communication for awareness and visibility; and health security.
Dr. Mohammad Al Hajri, Director of Health Emergency Department at the MoPH, stated that Mass Casualty Management Program was run as part of the health security pillar of the agreement. “This program is an integral part of the training being given to key medical staff in preparation for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and brought together experts in their field from Qatar’s healthcare sector and WHO.”
“The program focused on training staff working in Hamad Medical Corporation’s Emergency Departments and Primary Health Care Corporation’s health centers in the best clinical and administrative practices for managing patients in the first 30 minutes following an incident in which there have been many casualties. The WHO have developed these best practices based on experience gained from the responses of healthcare systems around the world who have dealt with such incidents. Being able to share this knowledge and best practice with our teams here in Qatar has been invaluable,” added Dr. Al Hajri.
Dr. Flavio Salio, WHO Emergency Medical Teams Network Leader said: “This training is part of a wider engagement with WHO and the Emergency Medical Team (EMT) initiative, and represents a critical component of our collaboration and commitment with the State of Qatar and partners to ensure all measures are in place to stage a safe and healthy FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 later this year.”
This training for the doctors, nurses, paramedics, and administrators working in Qatar’s emergency departments and primary health centers will ensure their readiness for managing patients requiring these services should a mass casualty incident occur.
A number of international experts from the WHO Academy conducted the training throughout the Six-day program which included lectures, workshops, tabletop exercises, and a review of current emergency plans. In addition, a number of local staff were specifically trained by the WHO team to become accredited trainers for this course. This will ensure Qatar has the capacity locally to further disseminate this expertise and be in a position to continually update our healthcare staff.
Source: Ministry of Public Health