The UAE has now come out with a comprehensive emergency response-training programme for frontline professionals. This programme has been developed under the partnership of the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Volunteer Programme and the Frontline Heroes Office.

The new "Readiness" or "Jaheziya" training initiative is a notive action plan that moves more towards disaster management. The programme aims to enhance the knowledge and skills of frontline professionals at all levels who play a critical role in protecting the people of the UAE during emergencies.

The programme comes full armed with an internationally recognized accredited certification in Specialised Disaster Response, giving an edge to the frontline heroes against others as they are able to provide their career with a valuable development roadmap.

These will cover a whole gamut of situations- from infectious disease to airborne viruses to natural disasters, fires and nuclear incidents too.  Disaster prepadeness is top on the cards for UAE. Speaking on the necessity of the same, Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of the Frontline Heroes Office, explained how as a nation, UAE places great importance in taking responsibility and corrective action, to ensure the public is safe. It is with this mind that they place the ‘highest level of emergency and disaster response capabilities to protect the UAE from potential threats to public safety today and for generations to come. At the same time, we owe it to our frontline professionals to provide them with the highest standards of professional training available both for their career development as well as to best enable them to deliver on the commitment they make every day to serve their nation.’

The Readiness or Jaheziya training initiative is modeled on a program developed by a consortium of leading US universities that provides successful participants an accredited certification approved by a group of prominent US and UK disaster management institutions. This includes The National Disaster Life Support Foundation (USA), The American Academy of Family Physicians (USA), the Advanced Life Support Group (UK) and the International Trauma Life Support programme (US).

What makes the programme extremely dynamic is the fact that is it structured to be a self-sustained model that will provide long-term capacity building opportunities. The highest performing candidates will be later nominated to participate in specialised instructor courses. This ‘train the trainer’ leadership development approach will help continue a steady stream of well-trained professionals that will result in the ability to sustain a highly capable and functional local faculty of emergency response experts to lead future training programmes as well. 

WAM