17 May 2023 - WHO trained 25 Palestine Medical Relief Society paramedics from the West Bank and East Jerusalem in pre-hospital trauma care during a four-day workshop, which aimed to refresh their skills and teach new techniques for stabilizing patients in emergencies and mass-casualty incidents. Participants
The course delivered during the training has been developed by WHO's Emergency Operations Unit and piloted for the first time in the Eastern Mediterranean region. It is designed to provide participants with critical life-saving skills that meet international standards and ensure that health workers speak a shared technical language during emergencies. During the training, participants particularly benefited from learning about handling patients with major injuries from gunshots and blasts.
"This training is part of a larger roadmap WHO has developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Health to improve the emergency preparedness and response capacity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Since 2022, efforts have been ongoing to identify and address gaps in the trauma care pathway at the pre-hospital, hospital, and post-hospital levels, aiming to reduce morbidity and mortality during emergencies," said Dr. Athanasios Gargavanis, WHO Emergency Care Technical Officer.
Since December 2021, WHO has trained 195 health workers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in mass-casualty management protocols and supported seven main hospitals in the West Bank to update their emergency plans.
The basic pre-hospital trauma care training was delivered through WHO's Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE), which provides resources for rapid emergency responses, often within 24 hours.
"CFE has been vital in supporting WHO scale-up efforts to improve the trauma care pathway, which is extremely important in the current context given the increased violence in the West Bank," said Dr. Gargavanis.
WHO is developing plans to expand the basic pre-hospital trauma care training across the West Bank, after analysis of feedback received from participants of the recent training.
