Peacekeeping

Peacekeepers trained in field medical procedures (2024)

The Regional Service Centre Entebbe (RSCE) is hosting a three-week UN Field Medical Assistants Course (FMAC) at their Regional Training and Conference Centre (RTCC). This is the first time that FMAC is conducted in the French language.

The first FMAC was conducted at the RTCC in 2019 and was attended by 29 uniformed peacekeepers from MONUSCO and UNMISS, with trainers from the UN, Belgium, Germany, and Japan.

This time round, the course that aims to increase survivability on missions by enhancing emergency medical response skills and capabilities of peacekeepers in life-threatening situations is a two-phase engagement that includes a Training of Trainers (ToT) component and a training for non-medical military personnel both led by Mr. Patrick Thompson from South Africa, assisted by Captain Dr. Assad Batcha from Togo and alumni of FMAC.

The two trainings will be attended by a total of 27 uniformed personnel from French speaking African countries that include Belgium, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, and Togo.

The trainees will learn from a simulation of real situations that they might face within the first hour after an incident before the arrival of medical personnel.

“The FMAC Train the Trainer course held in Entebbe is designed to take senior medical professionals and prepare them to become FMAC Train the Trainers in their home nations. This will expand the number of Advanced First Responders available for both UN deployment and in the home nations military. Evidence has shown that the implementation of Tactical Combat Casualty Care principles reduces preventable deaths. We hope that through this program we can increase the quality of care provided to those injured on deployment”.

The course medical concept, provided by the U.S. Department of Defense Health Agency (DHA), was adapted by the UN Division of Health-Care Management and Occupational Safety and Health (DHMOSH) to address the specific needs of peacekeeping operations.

 

About the Triangular Partnership Programme (TPP)

FMAC is organized by the UN Department of Operational Support (DOS) under the Triangular Partnership Programme (TPP). It aims to improve the ability of missions to operate effectively on the ground, contributing to the implementation of the Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) and A4P+.

Since its establishment in 2015, it has enhanced peacekeepers’ capacity in engineering, medical and C4ISR, and camp security technologies through the provision of training. It has also improved operational support and access to medical care in missions through telemedicine.

4 men in uniform carry a wrapped figure on a stretcher and they all are holding a blue colored rifle
close up photo of 2 men in uniform tending to a third man who is being strapped to a stretcher
a group of men and women in uniform looking in the direction that a man is pointing towards
group photo of men and women at the doorstep of the entry to a grand building

Peacekeepers trained in field medical procedures