SEHA moves to advanced phase of disaster management training

SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, has announced the successful conclusion of its advanced Emergency Management and Disaster Medicine course. The course, attended by all major stakeholders responsible for disaster response, combined online and in-situ activities to develop people capacity and competencies. The ADMC course is recognized by Department of Medical Education and Professional Development in Health Authority - Abu Dhabi and was granted 29 CME/CPD credit hours. 

The training programme exceeded its nationalization target of 40% by including 48% UAE Nationals among the total of 75 participants from healthcare and response related fields. Stakeholders like NCEMA, Health Authority, and Abu Dhabi Police Ambulance’s nominees were nominated to attend the advanced course by their superiors based on their performance in the basic disaster management course ‘BDMC’ completed in February. 

“SEHA’s core imperative is to improve the well-being and safety of residents in Abu Dhabi, which calls for an infrastructure to improve responses to disease outbreaks and natural disasters. Human capital development and improved expertise is a key requirement for effective disaster response and management, and SEHA’s BDMC and ADMC training programmes are aimed at effectively delivering the right techniques and tools to relevant stakeholders for a collaborative response strategy,” said Khalifa Al Ketbi, Deputy Chief Operations Officer of SEHA. 

During the training course, participants engaged comprehensively with the process, techniques, roles, responsibilities, and dynamics related to disaster management to enhance their ability to identify the stages of planning, preparedness, and response for disaster disasters in a systematic and collaborative manner. 

ADMC is the latest step in a series of training programmes that started with Basic Emergency Management & Disaster Medicine Course, BDMC, based on an academic education framework by EMDM Academy. BDMC, the first complete on-line education in Abu Dhabi, was accredited as worth 12 CME/CPD hours by the Health Authority Abu Dhabi. The number of trainees for basic training has exceeded expectations with 1900 trainees enrolling till date, with employees enrolling from the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi, National & Crisis Emergency Management Authority NCEMA, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah Air wing, Red Crescent, Abu Dhabi Police ambulance, Sanid & Takatof, Civil Defense, and SEHA’s home office and network of healthcare facilities. 

SEHA’s disaster management training includes an executive program for seniors in Disaster management, ‘DMCS’ and certified instructor courses. Once all training is completed, participants will engage in a SEHA Real Time Full Scale Exercise ‘RTFSEx’ in October 2012, which will allow participants a unique opportunity to practice their knowledge and newly gained competencies in a real time scenario. A formal after-action report will highlight the effectiveness of current systems that have been recently developed in collaboration with all stakeholders in the field of disaster management within SEHA and among all involved stakeholders as per established accountability. 

“The training modules will be followed by a real time disaster management drill for participants to put into action what they have learnt during training, culminating in a feedback report on the readiness and effectiveness of disaster response action plans. SEHA is making it a priority to work will stakeholders and partners to ensure maximum disaster preparedness for the well-being of Abu Dhabi’s residents,” Al Ketbi concluded.