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Interview with the Training Coordinator
When change reinforces motivation
The five-year National Strategic
Plan for the EMS Dept. seems to have had a domino effect, which you can already see in your work?
Indeed. We first became aware of the need to standardise equipment and ambulances. It was only afterwards that we began considering the need for training. We started looking for financial partners and realised that working with the SDC offered advantages that other potential partners lacked: first of all, the willingness to commit long-term funding (i.e. at least three years) and the SDC’s desire to create a training module that would be based on real-life situations encountered by our volunteers in the field.
What would you consider to be an ideal training programme for LRC volunteers?
First and foremost, the training programme must be continuous and provided all over the country. The training must take place at three successive levels: instructors, trainers and volunteers. Bear in mind that there are about 2,500 volunteers working at 43 Red Cross stations, and that we have a turnover rate of about 300 to 400 volunteers each year. This is why the training cycles conducted with the help of SDC-commissioned professionals are designed to ensure autonomous operation on the basis of standardised training levels.
Do you see potential challenges ahead in this respect?
Possibly, but we shall do everything in our power to overcome such challenges. One important task, for instance, will be to make sure that responsibilities for training EMS personnel and volunteers are transferred smoothly from the LRC’s Education and Training Dept. to the LRC’s Emergency Medical Services Dept. We also need to encourage people at the various Red Cross stations to accept change. We all know that the process is not going to be easy. People get attached to old methods like they do to old cars. That said, we cannot strip the Red Cross stations of their autonomy from one day to the next. Changes need to be gradual in order to give some of the Red Cross Stations time to adapt. We also need to establish an excellent level of communication between all those involved; use our Internet site more with internal Web pages for volunteers; and produce a newsletter in Arabic and English for rescue workers.
Why in English…?
Because most of the professional resources are written in this language. Volunteers must therefore at least be able to read and understand English.
What opinion do you have of the partners who took part in this pilot project?
Without the ICRC, the training project would never have seen the light of day. Sandrine Tiller, who is in charge of cooperation, was the main driver. She worked closely with Christian Boss, from
the SDC’s coordination office in Amman, as well as with Olivier Hagon, the doctor in charge of the course. All discussions took place in a very constructive manner. Christian was flexible and
enthusiastic, quick in his replies, and did not get bogged down in excessive paperwork. The best proof of this is the training tool that we now have in our hands.