Johanniter International Assistance - Emergency Training

This weekend, Motivation had a fantastic opportunity to attend an emergency training exercise organised by one of our partner organisations in the emergency wheelchair project, Johanniter International Assistance (JUH).

Chris Rushman, one of Motivation’s technical specialists, and I travelled to a training camp in Germany to observe logisticians, medics, dog teams and media teams all working together to form a coordinated response to a simulated earthquake in a fictitious European state. We watched while different teams worked tirelessly to develop a synchronised response to the emergency over the critical 72 hours where survivors are most likely to be found.

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JUH carries out international projects in primary health care and rehabilitation of disabled people as well as disaster relief and preparedness. JUH volunteers respond to international emergencies after natural disasters and participated in the field camp to practice rescuing and treating injured and missing people also played by volunteers.

As observers, we were able to gain an insight into how emergency responses are structured and at which stage wheelchair provision can be implemented. We got a good understanding of how and when the rapid response wheelchairs would get used and who would be involved in assessment and fitting.

We had an opportunity to present and discuss the emergency wheelchair prototype to one of the Medical Emergency Response Teams. There was a positive response to the design of the wheelchair and support package, and its suitability for use in an emergency response. It also became clear that packaging and handling of equipment in an emergency needs careful thought as it would need to be able to be moved quickly by hand.

As Chris commented,” We have seen first-hand how all equipment is carefully packed for storage and handling. This is key to its effectiveness in an emergency environment. We need to consider the ergonomics of the boxed wheelchair as well as the design of the wheelchair itself.

The synchronised range of scenarios over the weekend was impressive. Even though it was a simulation, the exercise really brought out some of the logistical and human challenges with emergency provision. We could see the difficulties caused by the need to set up services and treat injured people simultaneously and will be reviewing our protocols to ensure that wheelchair provision at this very early stage of an emergency response is as efficient as it can be.

We were so lucky to be able to participate in this training at this point in the project and are looking forward to incorporating some of the lessons for us in the wheelchair and training package.

Sarah Sheldon - Programme Coordinator, Motivation