06 July 2006
Abu Dhabi: The UAE is gearing up to enhance skills of healthcare workers and paramedics to tackle any eventuality.
National Disaster Life Support (NDLS) training programme will be launched on Sunday, said the chairman of the programme.
Dr Adel Al Shamri told Gulf News the programme features a comprehensive approach to dealing with natural disasters, explosions, fires and public health emergencies, resulting from disease outbreaks.
"The national programme in cooperation with the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, Georgia University, the American Medical Association (AMA) will train up to 3,000 disaster managers, physicians, nurses, physician assistants, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, police, hospital administrators nationwide over the next three years," he said.
"There is a potential for all types of disasters and we need to be ready," said Al Shamri, a cardiac surgeon and critical-care consultant.
"The courses will bring to international standards the training for healthcare providers. We have really tried to focus on all hazards because the next major disaster probably is not going to be the same as the last," said Dr Al Shamri.
The programmes include Core Disaster Life Support, a course for para-medics, firefighters, hospital administrators, security personnel and other non-medical health providers.
Basic Disaster Life Support focuses on giving hospital-based and frontline medical providers the essentials of disaster management, including natural disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes and manmade explosions and nuclear attacks.
Advanced Disaster Life Support expands that base and gives students hands-on practice triaging large numbers of patients and using high-end human simulators to recognise and treat chemical and biological exposures.
To date the same courses have been taught to about 50,000 students in nearly 40 American states, according to Dr Al Shamri.
"The course goes through detection of a disaster, general principles of an incident-management system, scene safety and security issues, assessing hazards, what kind of support is needed for a response, triage and treatment of patients and recovery," said Dr Al Shamri.
Dr Al Shamri hopes the new course will inspire further training because the reality of busy daily life means that more training, even for medical professionals, is crucial.
The courses will be made as accessible as possible, with distance learning and even web-based classes.
The UAE is going to have a public-alarm system and emergency shelters for any situation that poses a danger to public safety, said a senior official.
"Public alarm and public address systems will be set up to alert people against possible dangers," said the official.
"Evacuation plans and procedures in any emergency caused by fire, hazardous materials or violence will be worked out and public and private shelters will be set up," he said.
The official did not give a time frame as to when these alarm systems and shelters would be implemented.
The Civil Defence will be responsible for monitoring radioactive, chemical and biological emissions during war or peace time and taking counter-action in cooperation with the Armed Forces.
Civil Defence personnel being trained in the use of a metal cutter. A National Disaster Life Support training programme will be launched on Sunday, said the chairman of the programme.
By Samir Salama
Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.
