Director of Global Health, Assistant Residency Program Director
*Associate Director, Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) *Assistant Professor, School of Medicine- Department of Emergency Medicine Bloomberg School of Public Health- Department of International Health
The competence of responders to international disasters is one of the cornerstones for successful program interventions. Hence, building capacity for responders before deployment is an investment to their organizations.
When responding to international disasters, most health care professionals face austere environments with limited resources. Some volunteers are organized in advance and have been trained and directed to respond through government programs (e.g., Disaster Medical Assistance Teams [DMAT], Medical Reserve Corps [MRC]) and private sector efforts (e.g., American Red Cross, Orthopedic Trauma Association Mass Casualty Teams [OTAMCT]).
In addition, some volunteers need specialized training in caring for pediatric patients or patients who are suffering from mental health issues. Children are often the worse victims of disasters, with the under-5 mortality rate approaching 13% in a typical 5-year war.
The exact number of responders to international disaster and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (CHEs) is not well documented in the literature, nor is the percentage that have received formal structured training before actual response. Many organizations do not formally train their own personnel before deployment, let alone volunteers.
An environmental scan was conducted through a peer-reviewed literature search of PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane databases, and an open Internet search for training program websites. The landscape literature search was conducted by combining the search terms “international,” “disaster,” “complex humanitarian emergencies,” “training,” and “humanitarian response.” All searches were conducted from January2, 2013 to September 12, 2013. Initially, 681 citations were retrieved from the above named search engines. Screening by titles narrowed the focus to 165 articles and a further screening by abstract led to 40 articles, of which a full text review revealed 14 articles that contained information regarding training programs for responders to international disasters and CHE.
A total of 14 peer-reviewed articles mentioned or described eight training programs, while open Internet search revealed 13 additional programs. In total, twenty-one training programs were identified as currently available for responders to international disasters and CHE.
Each of the programs identified has different goals and objectives, duration, expenses, targeted trainees and modules. Seven programs (33%) are free of charge and four programs (19%) focus on the mental aspects of disasters. The mean duration for each training program is 5 to 7 days. Fourteen of the trainings are conducted in multiple locations (66%), two in Cuba (9%) and two in Australia (9%). The cost-reported in US dollars- ranges from $100 to $2,400 with a mean cost of $480 and a median cost of $135. Most of the programs are open to the public, but some are only available by invitation, such as the International Mobilization Preparation for Action (IMPACT) and the United Nations Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination (UN-CMCoord) Field Course. The target audience for IMPACT should satisfy three conditions: 1) have met the established criteria (technical competency in an international emergency response context in one of the “core functions”, “field experience”, and available for four-week voluntary deployment), 2) successfully completed screening interviews, and 3) completed World of Red Cross (WORC) training program.
Table 1 displays the twenty-one structured training programs (in alphabetical order), along with the organizer, location(s), cost, duration, and year established.
Name
Organizer
Type of Participants
Location
Cost (USD)
Duration
Year Established
ADPC
NI
Government officials
Thailand
$2,275-3,175
2 weeks
1986
CDAC
Australia Red Cross
Red Cross staff,
Australia
$650-920
2 days
NI
CDHRTP
University of Toronto Koffler Scientific Reserve
Anyone interested in humanitarian work
Canada
$2,080
2 weeks
NI
CHART
ICRC
Civilian and military disaster planners
Multiple
NI
5 days
1993
CHR
Cuba
Not reported
Cuba
Free
Rolling
2005
DHMP
American Red Cross, FEMA
Professionals from diverse mental health backgrounds
Multiple
$500
2 days
1990
DMTC
Rainbow Center for International Child Health
Health care professionals and physicians
Multiple
Free
5 days
1996
ELAM
Cuba
Anyone interested in disaster preparedness
Cuba
Free
6 years
1999
HELP
ICRC
Medical and public health professionals, environmental health engineers, and epidemiologists
Multiple
$1,800
2-3 weeks
1986
IDM
Indian Government
Undergraduate and post-graduate students in Symbiosis International University (SIU), India
SIU India
Free
18 months
2005
IHAT/IHPT
Australia Red Cross
Humanitarian aid workers, program officers/coordinators, caseworkers, policy officers or others working with people affected by disaster
Australia
$650-850
3 days
NI
IHE
RedR
Health workers and any professional groups who wish to work in emergency relief
Multiple
$600-2,500
5-7 days
1980
IMPACT
IFRC
By invitation only
Multiple
Free
2 weeks
NI
MIHA, IDHA, ICTC, DMTC, MHCE
CHIC
Members of
Multiple
$1,000-5,000
1,2,4 weeks
1992
PHCE
IRC & WE Inc.
NGO staff who are responsible for making decisions that affect the health of refugees, internally displaced persons, and those affected by CHE; District Medical Officers and other Ministry of Health staff working in regions affected by complex emergencies
Multiple
$2,400
2 weeks
NI
ROC
Medair
Mandated for prospective Medair employees but open to the public
Europe & Asia
$750
7 days
NI
TAP
ICRC
Civilian and military disaster planners
Multiple
NI
2-4 days
1980
UN-CMCoord Course and Field Course
OCHA
Governmental and non-governmental organizations, aid agencies, civil protection units, military and civil defense organizations, UN agencies and other intergovernmental bodies, the Red Cross, and Red Crescent Movement
Multiple
Free
2-7 days
1998
Various training programs
Salvation Army
Spiritual care officers,
Multiple
$135-$350
4-8 hours to 3 days
2004
Various training programs
ICISF
People working in the following fields: crisis intervention, disaster response, education, emergency services, employee assistance, healthcare, homeland security, human resources, mental health, military, spiritual care, transportation, and traumatic stress
Multiple
$100-$700
2-3 days per course
1989
WORC
IFRC
Red Cross and Red Crescent staff, volunteers, government authorities, donors, media, schools, and interested public
Multiple
Free
1 week
NI
Below are descriptions of the objectives, target audience, course size, and training content of the twenty structured training programs listed in the table above. Information is listed alphabetically and depends on its availability from the various sources queried.
A successful and efficient response to international disasters and complex humanitarian emergencies depends on the capacity, skills, and prior training those responders have already acquired. As the number of complex humanitarian emergencies and disasters increase, one of the challenges facing responding organizations is to maintain well-trained volunteers and employees. There is an increasing demand for skilled health providers, public health professionals, and field program administrators; this requires a cadre of trainees with both general and specific capacities.
The SPHERE standards were created in 1997 to define a set of universal minimum standards in core areas of humanitarian assistance.
Due to the various objectives of the programs along with the various expectations and interests of the trainees, there is no single training program that is universally accepted as the ideal. The main language used for these trainings is English, but the HELP courses are taught in multiple languages. Regionalized trainings conducted in other languages such as French, Arabic, or Spanish may reduce the burden to find interpreters or obtain visas. This would reduce costs and improve logistics for participants.
The list provided in this paper offers a general description of the various training programs offered worldwide. This will help potential responders –volunteers or non-volunteers- to identify training opportunities that will build their capacities in the specific areas they are responsible for. This will allow them to consider the financial, linguistic, and logistical characteristics. With evolving technology, the responders of the future may not be limited to attending in-person training programs, but have access to virtual environment experiences. However, this modality of training is still infantile for training programs geared towards international disasters and CHE and requires a large amount of financial and technical resources. For the foreseeable future, in-person training programs remain indispensable, and they continue to grow in number, scope, breadth, location and targeted audience
The vast majority of these programs target volunteers and are known worldwide for being offered by large, reputable, and established international organizations; however many more specialized trainings exist as well. NGOs typically do staff training targeted for specific roles in the field, however these training courses are seldom published in peer-reviewed journals and may not even appear on the websites of the NGOs who offer them. A centralized database of all training programs would be beneficial.
There is a paucity of peer-reviewed literature with substantial information on structured training programs for responders to international disasters and CHE. Twelve articles on specific training programs were published in peer-reviewed journals. However, it is important to note that the literature search was not conducted in a systematic fashion due to resource constraints. There is no single web-based resource that is comprehensive, robust, and well known enough that potential responders can consider. In addition to the programs reported and analyzed in this report, there are many other smaller programs with different foci.
Additionally, there is no published literature on the recommended consensus-based recommendations for competencies or curricula. Future work could include surveying participants on their experiences in each program.
Training programs available for responders to international disasters and CHE vary in their objectives, target audiences, modules, geographical locations, and financial cost. Currently, there is no resource that centralizes the descriptions of humanitarian response training programs. This paper presents an overview of available programs and serves as a resource for potential responders and organizations interested in capacity-building training prior to an international disaster response or complex humanitarian emergency.