ReliefWeb

Two USAID-funded emergency health assistance programs, MARAM and EMAP, will soon offer specialized emergency medical services (EMS) training in the West Bank and Gaza. EMS has been targeted as one of the areas within the Palestinian health system most in need of upgrading and expansion.

MARAM ("the goal" in Arabic), a program run by IBM, will offer pre-hospital training, establishing and improving the emergency care skills of laypersons, nurses, midwives, paramedics and physicians at the community level. Lay workers will be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and basic first aid, while medical workers will be offered advanced EMS intervention techniques.

EMAP (Emergency Medical Services Training), implemented by CARE International, will introduce emergency medical services training for hospital staff - physicians, nurses and midwives - upgrading and expanding the EMS skills of these Palestinian health professionals. Included in this training will be "state-of-the-art" EMS techniques such as triage and stabilization.

Pre-hospital EMS training will begin in February 2003. By March 2004, it is estimated that 650 community-based laypersons and health care providers will have received specialized training. Training for hospital professionals will begin in early January 2003, with over 700 Palestinian medical professionals scheduled to participate.