In order to reach its ambition to work closely with National Societies and answer the needs of the field according to the context, the Global First Aid Reference Centre organises ‘Regional First Aid Meetings’ since its creation, consisting of a series of sessions for Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies first aid focal point of each region (Asia Pacific, Americas, Africa, Middle East and North Africa and Europe). In June and July 2021 took place the regional online gatherings for Europe and Asia Pacific despite the Covid-19 pandemic, in collaboration with IFRC Regional Offices.
The goal of these meetings were;
- To discuss and recommend initiatives to contribute to ensuring good quality of first aid program.
- To share good practises, tools and innovations in the development of first aid knowledge, education and services.
- To explore and agree knowledge sharing mechanism among first aid managers in the region and globally.
We warmly thank participants for their attendance and wish you to see you next time face-to-face!
Regional first aid meeting for Europe
Sessions from July 5th to July 9th 2021. Recordings, presentations and more on the dedicated webpage.
The Regional Meeting for Europe consisted in two 4 hours sessions during two days. The participation was good during the two days and has stabilized around 40 participants each time.
The first day was dedicated to “the Harmonization Pack”, (Guidelines 2020, International First Aid Attestation and Platform) as well as the initiative of repositioning first aid at the center of IFRC’ strategy. The second day was dedicated to commercial first aid, and First aid in the new normal (safe training, adverse effects following Covid-19 immunisation and how to teach first aid using a blended learning approach).
The working groups in breaking rooms were a success, in particular the ones about Repositioning First Aid and Commercial First Aid. The presentation of Blended Learning case studies were really well appreciated. The regional meeting was also interactive, which was appreciated by all participants (with the use of Kahoot, Jamboards, and working groups in breaking rooms).
Otherwise, the feedback on the session was positive: 61.54% rated the presentation content as “excellent”, and 38.46% as “good”. There were no complaints about the content. A lot of topics were listed by the participants on their point of interests and what subject they would like to develop further with GFARC: case studies and experience sharing in general; Trainers of Trainers; IFAA; Research; Commercial First Aid; Repositioning First Aid at the Centre of our Strategy; blended learning. This shows an overall interest.
Regional first aid meeting for Asia Pacific
Sessions from June 5th to June 9th 2021. Recordings, presentations and more on the dedicated webpage.
The Regional Meeting for Asia Pacific consisted in five sessions of two hours and gathered 70 representatives.. It started with an opening speech of Gwendolyn Pang, Deputy Regional Director for Asia Pacific Office, who recalled the importance of ensuring that all Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies are equipped to provide quality first aid to their communities, and acknowledged the amazing motivation and dedication of their staff. Each day was facilitated by a member of a National Society or a IFRC first aid officer, and a high-expert panels provides conferences and workshop on the following topics :
DAY 1
Let’s advocate for first aid!
Repositioning first aid at the centre of our strategy
Working groups
Communications for First Aid
DAY 2
First aid tools launched in 2021: harmonization pack
First aid platform
First Aid Guidelines
International First Aid Attestation (IFAA)
IFAA case-study – Red Cross Society of China
Discussing IFAA in working groups
DAY 3
First aid trainings in the “new normal”
Collaborative discussion on covid-19
Tools for first aid and covid-19: safe trainings and AEFI
Digital first aid: exploring approaches
Case-studies of National Societies implementing blended-learning
DAY 4
Commercial first aid
Parking lot – Random questions
Accidentology and risks at work
Market your first aid course
Working groups
DAY 5
First aid, a cross-sector topic
Disaster risk reduction, conflicts situations in first aid
WFAD: Be a hero at school and in your community
How to work together? Working groups
After the five sessions ended, the GFARC sent to participants a survey in order to collect feedbacks on the overall organisation, content and unfolding of the sessions.
Participants left good appreciations on the five sessions. To the question, “How were the meetings this week compared with your expectations?” – satisfaction level is 4.2/5. To the question “How happy are you with the working groups sessions?” – satisfaction level is 4.5/5.
Participants also left good comments on the choice of date, time, organisation, structure and content. Sessions that were most appreciated are the ones on : commercial first aid, blended learning and the one focusing on the International First Aid Attestation.
Participants are asking for more meetings in general, with a preference for regional meetings that include working groups, technical meetings with a focus on one particular subject, and GFARC/IFRC updates. To continue further with this new collaboration, a meeting will be held in October to define our strategy and how to organise technical webinars.
We would like to thank all the participants for their active engagement in the first aid files of their region and do not hesitate to contact the team for any suggestions!
NEXT REGIONAL MEETING ONLINE FOR AFRICA HERE.
