Let’s Medic! – IFMSA-Pakistan

Name of the activity: Let’s Medic

Country/NMO: IFMSA-Pakistan

Program: Emergency, Disaster Risk & Humanitarian Action

Contact information: contact [email protected] to get in touch with the Activity Coordinator

Type of the activity: First-time Activity

Category: Education

Focus area: Disaster resilience (including prevention, preparedness and response), Access to care in disaster/emergency contexts

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions)

General description:

“Let’s Medic!” served as a preliminary introduction to first aid, basic life support, and fire safety for medical students. Through this workshop, we hope that the health system will be strengthened and made more robust to disasters and emergencies by training future health workers, implementing disaster risk reduction strategies, & communicating disaster risk information in communities. 

Problem statement:

Pakistan faces some of the highest disaster risk levels in the world, ranked 18 out of 191 countries by the 2019 Inform Risk Index and also has high exposure to flooding and drought. The rising incidence of disasters over the previous century has highlighted the need to address the lack of training in disaster medical management. The health system also lacks robust response to disasters and emergencies and lacks training for healthcare workers.

Target groups:

• Medical students
• Healthcare Students

Beneficiaries:

• General population
• Medical students
• Healthcare Students
• Other Students

Objectives:

– Provide at least 40 participants with thorough knowledge of Disaster management, mitigation, prevention and risk assessment through 3-hour-long panel discussions delivered by IFMSA trainers & external partners 

Fire Safety Workshop:

– Increase at least 40 participants’ understanding of fire classification, spread, prevention, mitigation, evacuation plan and preparedness through interactive 4-hour sessions delivered by professionals within 3 days.

First Aid/Basic life support workshop 

– Increase at least 40 participants’ understanding of practical techniques involved in basic life support (CPR, FBAO, Control bleeding, management of fracture, impaled object and management of spinal injury) required for robust Disaster management response by on-ground session within 3 days. 

– Teaching at least 20 participants the use of fire extinguishers. 

Indicators of Success:

General:

– All aspects of the activity to be completed

– At least 40 participants attend the panel discussion and training session on disaster risk management

– Total number of volunteers

– Social media posts outreach (likes, reactions, comments for each poster shared)

– Participants’ feedback and satisfaction rate

Specific:

– Active Monitoring

– SWOT analysis to be done on multiple occasions to identify strengths, opportunities, potential threats and weaknesses and mitigate the risks using a risk management strategy.

– 100 social media outreach of the activity posters and activity infographics campaign

– There is an increase in knowledge of 75% of participants as calculated on the basis of pre and post-evaluation form

– At least 80% of the participants demonstrate the accurate use of fire extinguisher

– 80% positive rating in feedback forms

– Post-event report and photographs

Methodology:

A social media campaign will be launched before the activity.

The disaster management, mitigation, prevention & risk assessment panel will highlight these topics’ importance to the participants. All phases of the activity will be completed within 3 days through multiple sessions & practical demonstrations. 

The first Fire Safety workshop session will include an Introduction of the training session, Definition of Fire, Fire Triangle/ Components of fire, Classification, Spread, Causes, Control of Fire, Classification & use of Fire Extinguishers, safety measures, Fire Exits & Evacuation Plan. 

First Aid/Basic life support workshop will include Basic Life Support, FBAO (Foreign Body Airway Obstruction), CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation), Control Bleeding, Management of Fracture, Impaled Object, Management of Spinal Injury & Practical (FBAO, CPR, Control Bleeding, Spinal Injury). including practical demonstrations by the trainers. 

All phases will be completed within 3 days.

Plans for evaluation:

Plans for Evaluation:

– Social media outreach

– Number of participants attending the panel discussion and training sessions

– Pre- and post-evaluation forms to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of participants regarding disaster management and basic life support

– Impact assessment of participants after the hands-on practical demonstration activity

– Feedback forms for the activity

Plans for Monitoring:

– Online meetings will be regularly held to discuss activity organisation

– Creating a task sheet to delegate work to the Organising Committee members

– Compare timeline with ongoing work

– Tracking the progress of Organising Committee members through a task sheet.

External collaborations:

Rescue 1122, will provide trainers for practical demonstration.

Dr. Rizwan Naseer, (Sitara-e-Imtiaz) Director General of the Rescue 1122 

Dr Mahwish Arooj, Principal & Director of Medical Education University College of Medicine and Dentistry Lahore, Pakistan

A focal person from the NDMA, National Disaster Management Authority)