The CareTech Foundation’s awarded a grant to Medevac Frontline which will go towards a further overseas trip to Kosovo later this year where Medevac Frontline are undertaking an on-going training programme of up-skilling their emergency services in pre-hospital care.
Medevac Frontline comprise highly skilled UK paramedics that volunteer their services as an Emergency Medical Team to Ministries of Health overseas that may have been overwhelmed by a humanitarian disaster or human conflict. As many as twenty paramedics are able to be deployed at short notice but much of their work is also training.
Medevac Frontline started their training programme in Kosovo in March 2024 with a visit to Gjakove on an invitation from the Municipality’s Mayor.
The initial trip was largely a ‘needs-assessment’. Both the Fire and Rescue service and the Emergency Medical Teams attended, arriving in their respective response vehicles. Various scenarios were re-created including major road traffic accidents, building collapses and dangerous chemical spills.
Though in the UK we are familiar with what a Paramedic does, in many countries overseas (including Kosovo) this is not a recognised role. Their EMT response to an emergency call is made by a Doctor and a Nurse that depart from the hospital in an ambulance. Though they are experts within the hospital setting, the challenging environment and issues that arise as first-on-scene were not part of their medical training in the country’s capital, Pristina. It was at the Doctors’ suggestion that they return again and undertake specific training in the skills of pre-hospital emergency care.
“It is always rewarding to see the impact of specialist training on a group of hugely enthusiastic, determined and brave personnel of the emergency services in Kosovo. The feedback we got from the initial trip was so encouraging. It makes me realise what an amazing group of volunteer paramedics work with our organisation not just for training overseas but also for deployment at humanitarian disasters and conflict zones.”
Fergus Beeley, CEO, Medevac Frontline