First responders undergo health and emergency preparedness training

Over two weeks, approximately 230 first responders are being engaged in a health and emergency preparedness training programme designed to significantly enhance Jamaica’s response capabilities and readiness.

The training, which runs from March 20 to April 4, is being conducted by representatives from the International Medical Corps (IMC).

The participants include personnel from the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), Ministry of Health and Wellness, Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Food For the Poor, Municipal Corporations and Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB).  

Organisers for the event include ODPEM, in collaboration with the National Healthcare Enhancement Foundation (NHEF), with technical donor support provided by the IMC.

The IMC maintains a robust trauma and disaster training programme, including courses that are internationally accepted, scalable and adaptable to analogous global contexts, including war, conflict and natural disasters.

Addressing the training programme’s opening ceremony at the Caribbean Military Academy (CMA), Up Park Camp, Kingston, yesterday (March 24), ODPEM’s Acting Senior Director for Preparedness and Emergency Operations, Sophia Mitchell, said the exercise augurs well for Jamaica’s National Readiness Programme and emergency management response.

“We do hope that you will find this training as equally rewarding as we would want it to be and that we will, together, build the disaster management architecture, especially for health preparedness,” she told the participants.

ODPEM’s Acting Deputy Director General, Michelle Edwards, said disaster management system strengthening is critical, emphasising that preparedness is not an option but a necessity.

“Our communities depend on us, not only to respond, but to anticipate the risks, to plan effectively and to build a culture of resilience,” she stated.

Executive Director of the NHEF, Courtney Cephas, said the training engagement with IMC was initiated following assistance they provided in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, particularly in St Elizabeth.

The NHEF is an agency under the Ministry of Health and Wellness that manages, administers and mobilises philanthropic contributions to benefit Jamaica’s public health sector.

Senior Health Advisor for the IMC’s Emergency Response Unit and Team Lead for Jamaica, Dr John Roberts, explained that the training focuses on ‘Basic Emergency Care’, ‘Mass Casualty Management’ and ‘Stop the Bleed’.

Basic Emergency Care introduces a systematic approach to the initial assessment and management of time-sensitive critical medical and trauma conditions requiring early intervention, while concurrently working to diagnose the etiology.

Mass Casualty Management (MCM) teaches participants to effectively manage mass casualty incidents by addressing the full cycle of preparedness, response and recovery in hospitals’ emergency units, through the development of new or updated MCM plans to introduce to fellow hospital staff.

Stop the Bleed teaches participants to systematically identify and address life-threatening bleeding in a non-medical setting until definitive medical treatment can be administered.

Dr Roberts emphasised that the participants are gaining valuable insights through instructions delivered by a team of highly skilled professionals.

“I’m so excited that you will be able to learn from that [team] and [that] we will be able to learn from you,” he added.