Dhaka, 24 July: First ever national training on Chemical Incident Preparedness for Hospitals (HOSPREP)” which was conducted for last three days ended today (24 July 2019) at CMH, Dhaka. The event was jointly organized by Bangladesh National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention (BNACWC), Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka from 22-24 July 2019. The training event commenced on 22 July 2019 at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Mr Zahid Malaque, MP was present as the chief guest. Chairmen BNACWC and Principal Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division, Lieutenant General Md Mahfuzur Rahman was also present as special guest of the ceremony. Other senior dignitaries from home and abroad were also present at the ceremony.
Aim of the training was to initiate the nationwide comprehensive capacity building effort in hospitals for dealing with chemical victims. Total 45 doctors, nurses from reputed government hospitals and officials from related ministries and organizations participated in this event. The training focused on hospital emergency planning, victim decontamination procedures and clinical management as well as on the prevention of secondary contamination of medical personnel. Related subject matter experts from home and abroad including Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and World Health Organization (WHO) were invited to conduct the lessons in the training.
At the closing ceremony, the chief guest Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health handed over the certificates to the participants and the resource persons. In his closing remarks, he expressed his confidence that the knowledge gained through this training would be immensely beneficial for the participants to effectively deal with chemical incident/accident/disaster causalities in hospitals. He also reiterated on the importance of the capacity building of the hospitals to prepare for such challenges in case of chemical disasters. He assured the full cooperation and support of his ministry in HOSPREP effort. He also conveyed his heartfelt gratitude to the organizers for effectively arranging this important event for the first time in Bangladesh.
