Strengthening emergency preparedness through the WHO emergency medical team mentorship and verification process: experience from Thailand

ABSTRACT

The World Health Organization (WHO) emergency medical team (EMT) mentorship and verificationprocess is an important mechanism for providing quality assurance for EMTs that are deployedinternationally during medical emergencies. To be recommended for classification, an organizationmust demonstrate compliance with guiding principles and core standards for international EMTs andall technical standards for their declared type, in accordance with a set of globally agreed minimumstandards. A rigorous peer review of a comprehensive documentary evidence package, combinedwith a 2-day verification site visit by WHO and independent experts, is conducted to assess an EMT’scapacity. Key requirements include having sufficient systems, equipment and procedures in placeto ensure an EMT can deploy rapidly, providing clinical care according to internationally acceptedstandards, being able to be fully self-sufficient for a period of 14 days and being able to fully integrateinto the emergency response coordination structure and the health system of the country affectedduring deployment. Through the WHO mentorship programme, each EMT is provided with a mentorteam, which guides and supports it during the preparatory process. The process typically takes around1 to 2 years to complete. The Thailand EMT is the first team from the WHO South-East Asia Region tosuccessfully complete the WHO mentorship and verification process. The experience of this processin Thailand can serve as an example for other countries in the South-East Asia Region and encouragethem to strengthen their emergency preparedness and operational readiness by getting their nationalEMTs verified.