Adaptation EMT2 Tuscany: exercise in Pistoia to test field hospital operating procedures in maxi-emergencies
During the three-day, lectures and practical simulations are also planned
The training course "EMT2 General and Medical-Maternal and Infant Aspects" organized by the Tuscany Region and the volunteer association GCU-Gruppo Chirurgia d'Urgenza per interventi di civil protection, as part of the European project Adaptation EMT2 Toscana, started today at the CROSS headquarters in Pistoia.
The course opens the three days of work attended by GCU staff and volunteers from the Regional Civil Protection System who will operate in the "EMT2 Toscana" field hospital and will be involved in practical activities, simulations and lectures held by experts and representatives of the Civil Protection Department, the Tuscany Region and the CGU.
The first day of the work will be entirely dedicated to structure installation activities and introductory lectures in which the course objectives, the goals of the Adaptation EMT2 project and the operation of the GCU field health module will be explained to the participants.
On Saturday 10, at the headquarters of Central 118 Pistoia-Empoli, there will be a ceremony to introduce the activities of the field hospital in the presence of the Head of the Department, Fabrizio Curcio, the Tuscany Region's Councillor for Health and Health Rights, Simone Bezzini, and representatives of the regional civil protection and GCU, as well as representatives of the WHO-World Health Organization and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Civil Protection and European Humanitarian Aid Operations (DGECHO).
Part of the day will also be dedicated to learning more about pivotal issues in the management of a field hospital and its deployment after a disaster: from the roles played by the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and the Department in coordinating the resource in international contexts, to elements of emergency medicine and obstetric and pediatric clinics for a highly specialized field hospital, to practical tests of health management database use, logistical organization and team building activities.
The training course will end on Sunday 11 with an exercise to test operational procedures for triage, treatment of critical patients and management of some areas, such as maternal and child care, which will be followed by a final debriefing to examine the activities carried out during the simulation.
The Adaptation EMT2 Tuscany project stems from a partnership between the Civil Protection Department, the Tuscany Region and GCU as a response to a call for proposals from the European Commission-Directorate General for Civil Protection and European Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO). The objective of the action is to co-finance the costs of adapting the Advanced Medical Post with surgery into a second-level medical module to deploy in maxi-emergencies, according to the criteria established by the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
The facility, which is part of the Tuscany Region's Civil Protection Mobile Column, will be subject to a series of adjustments to obtain European certification in compliance with the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Once obtained, the health module will be included in the ECCP-European Civil Protection Pool, a European civil protection tool that includes means and resources provided by member states to respond to disasters.