The IAEA held its first-ever emergency preparedness and response (EPR) training course in Arabic last month for personnel in Qatar tasked to be responders in case of a nuclear or radiological emergency. The course was designed to help strengthen and implement Qatar’s EPR arrangements.
Organized in collaboration with the Qatari Ministry of Municipality and Environment and its Department of Radiation and Chemicals Protection, the virtual course took place from 9 to 11 June with some 50 participants. It focused on the responsibilities of first responders, activities associated with the incident and effective communication with the public.
“Having this course in Arabic has made it more inclusive and of greater practical benefit for the participants,” said Mohammed Al Suwaidi of the Ministry of Interior’s General Directorate of Civil Defence. “We felt comfortable, participated more and asked more questions. Training in Arabic enables us to engage a wider set of stakeholders.”
“This course is a first in three ways – it is the first course of this type in Arabic, the first based on new material we have developed for the updated Manual for First Responders to a Radiological Emergency which will be published in 2020, and the first offered virtually, to ensure that first responders in Qatar were still trained, even in times of COVID-19,” said Muzna Assi, an IAEA Emergency Preparedness Officer.
The training course covered a number of aspects across three modules, including the structure of incident command systems, actions and activities associated with incident commanders from hazards assessments and management of the scene to personnel protection and site decontamination, and best practices for the protection of both first responders and the public.
