The IHR Strengthening Project (IHR-SP) recently collaborated with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) and its partners to provide Public Health Emergency Operating Centre (PHEOC) and Incident Management System (IMS) training of trainers (ToT) for 25 experts from national and subnational PHEOCs. The training was provided over a course of six days aiming to enhance participants’ skills and knowledge to effectively cascade the training to sub-national level.

UKHSA’s IHR SP has been supporting the training as part of the ongoing PHEOC capacity strengthening plan in recent years. Previous support towards the PHEOC capacity strengthening plan includes PHEOC handbook development, PHEOC and IMS training manual development and PHEOC and IMS basic trainings provision.  

IHR-SP Emergency Preparedness Response and Resilience (EPRR) technical advisors along with experts from WHO Ethiopia, US CDC and other partners, extensively engaged on planning, training material development and provision of the training.

The objectives for the training included:

  1. enhancing the knowledge of national and sub-national PHEOC ToT participants on the concepts of PHEOC activation and coordination as well as PHEOC staffs’ roles and responsibilities
  2. enhancing the knowledge of national and sub-national PHEOC ToT participants on the Incident Management System (IMS)
  3. enhancing participants’ training facilitation skills enabling them to effectively cascade the training at sub-national level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images above: participants doing group work on SimEx material development

Different training techniques were implemented to achieve the objectives including refresher training on selected topics, facilitation skills presentation, teach back sessions by trainees followed by comments by facilitators, group work for SimEx material designing and a mock exercise sessions. 

The session was closed by Mrs. Ebise Abose, National PHEOC Manager, who noted how this training will help to realise EPHI’s plan to expand PHEOC at sub-regional (zonal) level.  She outlined further work with EPHI leadership and partners to cascade the training to regional and sub-regional level. IHR-SP team will continue supporting the EPHI with PHEOC training manual revision and other PHEOC strengthening activities based on IHR-SP priority.

Image above: participants and facilitators at the end of the training