Member States and NGOs in the Americas on the road to EMT classification

Category: Issue 124 - June 2017 Perspective

  Participants at the meeting.

O

n 4-5 May 2017, an Emergency Medical Team (EMT) workshop was held for NGOs in the Americas to provide them with the tools and knowledge needed as they prepare to become type 1 and type 2 EMTs. Similar meetings were held in Mexico, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.

The aim of the event, organized in Washington D.C., was to strengthen medical teams so that they can respond to national and international emergencies in a professional and coordinated manner. It identified key elements and requirements needed to form an EMT, as well as the processes and structures involved in obtaining this status.

Although this workshop was aimed specifically at NGOs, PAHO has been implementing the Medical Team initiative since 2006, with special attention to strengthening the capacities of countries in the Americas so that they will be ready to provide type 1 and 2 EMTs.

This year, for example, training has been given to: 

  • Fifteen type 1 EMT from Canada and the USA;
  • One type 2 EMT from Ecuador;
  • Two EMT specialized cells from Barbados and Canada; and,
  • Four EMT in process that will be classified  according to WHO’s minimum guidelines.