PRT Salah Ad Din
PRT Helps Restore Emergency Services to Salah ad Din Province
Tikrit, Iraq -- Imagine a small fire breaking out in your house late one night. You grab your phone and dial an emergency number and no one responds. Unfortunately, this has been the case for many citizens of Salah ad Din Province. But now with security conditions improved, fire and medical services are once again responding to emergencies thanks to collaborative efforts by the local Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and Iraqi authorities.
After the PRT delivered five new fire engines to Tikrit in 2007, laying the foundation for an ongoing partnership with city authorities to improve emergency services, it recently followed up with an innovative and collaboration training effort aimed at increasing the medical skills of firefighters.
Completed in November 2008, the Basic Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training course for firefighters was organized by the PRT, Multinational Division-North Surgeon’s Office and the Salah ad Din Provincial Fire Department.
The PRT also donated medical equipment, which was presented to the Chief of the Salah ad Din Fire Department as a demonstration of the Americans’ commitment to assisting the province in rebuilding a strong and well-functioning Emergency Medical service in the Province.
Although supported by the PRT and the U.S. military, the course was Iraqi-led. Working closely with Colonel Ziad Hamada Saleh, Dean of the Police Training Academy, Major Abdullah Saad Mohameed, the Civil Defense Training Officer and Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Saleh Shaouqi, of the Civil Defense Center, the PRT funded the hiring of three Iraqi instructors for the course.
Two Iraqi medical doctors and one Iraqi paramedic headed the instructor team with SFC James Bailey and SGM Napoleon Noguerra, both EMTs by trade, providing occasional guest instruction.
The firefighters attended lectures and conducted practical exercises five days a week for three weeks for a total of 130 hours of training – exceeding the 110 hour U.S. Department of Transportation training Standard.
Twenty-four Iraqi firefighters are now EMT qualified and 30 percent are also qualified to teach the course in the future.
The firefighters who participated in the course expressed the gratitude for the training. One firefighter remarked how he could now save the life of a baby poisoned accidentally by drinking kerosene because of his new medical knowledge.
At the graduation ceremony last November, Major Abdullah told the graduates, that “they should be brave and proud Iraqis who do not fear terrorist propaganda and they should be proud to serve their country to defeat terrorism.”
In a further show of Iraqi intra-departmental cooperation, Major Mohameed and Colonel reached an agreement that allowed the course to be taught at the Police Training Academy. Two Academy students were also allowed to enroll in the class.
An improved intra-agency relationship between the Iraqi Police and the Fire Department allows greater resource sharing and training - an important step in developing a well balanced Emergency Medical System (EMS) in the province. The Iraqi Police are now considering offering a similar course to their recruits.