Just-in-time training live webinar jointly organized by 5 practitioners’ networks

On the 18th of June 2020, a live Webinar on Just-In-Time Training was organized by the 5 pan-European networks of practitioners (DARENET, ENOTICE, FIRE-IN, MEDEA, NO-FEAR), with the aim to provide practitioners, researchers and other interested professionals with best practices and methodologies for immediate (“just in time”) training of first responders and medical workers. The idea for a live discussion on Just-in-time techniques was stemmed by the needs for immediate sharing of standard operating procedures or technical guidance on several aspects among first responders that was urgently raised during the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis. More than 250 attendants joined all sessions and actively participated to the discussions making evident the importance of a training adapted to temporary yet crucial needs.

All webinar Presentations are accessible in this page: Just-in-time training presentations.

​After a brief presentation of the organizing networking projects, the first speaker, Dr Luca Ragazzoni, Scientific Coordinator at the Research Center in Emergency and Disaster Medicine (CRIMEDIM), Università del Piemonte Orientale, explained the implementation of “Just-In-Time Training” in the COVID-19 crisis, using as an example the Novara Hospital, that was one of the worst-hit referral hospitals for the coronavirus in Northern Italy. Supported by the great number of COVID-19 victims among healthcare sector, he explained the importance of “Just-In-Time Training” in order, for medical workers, to obtain necessary public health skills, change roles, adapt to new conditions and get trained beyond their field of expertise.

 

Zsolt Kelemen, Head of the EUSDR PA5 Disaster Management Working Group and vice president of the Hungarian Firefighters’ Association, shared lessons learnt from past flood disasters and especially the 2013 flood of the Danube River in the heart of Budapest. He identified the characteristics of “Just-in-Time Training” as situation-specific, in advance and on the spot; he described the different target groups of volunteers receiving training and specify its content in safety and security guidelines.
 
Elizabeth Benson, Police Inspector, currently serving as Head of performance and development at the UK National CBRN Centre, presented the implementation of “Just-In-Time” professionals Training on response capacity to CBRN accidents or attacks in the form of online webinars due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The online training procedures contained five basic principles: gather information and intelligence, assess risks and develop the appropriate working strategy, consider the available procedures, powers and policies, identify options and possible contingencies and, finally, take action and review what happened.

We would like to deeply thank all speakers and attendants!