WHO Trains Emergency Teams To Tackle CBRN Incidents, Severe Burns And Mass Casualties
Princess-Ekwi Ajide
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is stepping up regional preparedness for complex emergencies as conflicts and other crises increasingly expose health systems to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents, severe burns and mass casualties.
The WHO said it had strengthened the capacity of emergency medical teams (EMTs) and frontline responders to safely manage such emergencies, including the urgent evacuation of critically injured patients.
The initiative brought together 25 participants from Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, the Syrian Arab Republic, Türkiye and Ukraine, as well as Médecins Sans Frontières, for an integrated training programme in Oman from 26 to 30 September 2026.
Organised by the WHO Regional Offices for the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe, the programme focused on CBRN response, burns management and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC).
Participants were trained in risk management, triage, decontamination, patient stabilisation, referral and safe transfer, while also strengthening coordination between clinical and emergency response teams.
WHO said practical skills stations, group exercises and an immersive simulation enabled participants to test their decision-making under pressure in a realistic mass-casualty scenario.
The programme was delivered by WHO experts, international partners and collaborating institutions, with support from Omani experts and the European Centre for Emergency Medicine, a WHO Collaborating Centre.
The initiative builds on WHO’s first integrated course on CBRN, burns, mass-casualty management and MEDEVAC held in June 2026.
Funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation through the EMT Secretariat, the programme forms part of wider efforts to strengthen emergency medical response capacity across the region.
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