GHA staff complete anti-terrorist response training

Gibraltar Health Authority staff and emergency responders completed a three-day anti-terrorist response training led by UK expert Carl Daniels, enhancing their preparedness for mass casualty incidents through courses on medical command, triage, and decision-making.

GHA Staff, including Senior Gibraltar Health Authority and Ambulance Service Officers, were recently presented with certificates after their successful completion of the course by the Gibraltar Government’s Office of Civil Contingencies to test local response to a simulated terrorist attack.
Conducted by Mr Daniels, the multi-agency tabletop exercise assessed Gibraltar’s emergency and essential services preparedness for a serious incident with mass casualties.

Key GHA medical staff undertook different courses such as Medical Incident Command and Triage (MICAT), and Ten Second Triage, designed to ensure an effective and rapid deployment of resources to save lives, deliver emergency medical care, and remove casualties and survivors from the scene.

Joint Decision Loggist and Defensible Decision Making courses instructed administrative staff in the legal protocols used by emergency services to log incidents and to take decisions which are proportionate, legitimate, authorised, necessary and ethical.

“I would like to congratulate all who took part in this vital training and especially our own professionals, for the diligence shown in this simulated major catastrophe,” said GHA Director General, Kevin McGee.

“St John’s Ambulance who so ably support our daily healthcare efforts were also involved in this exercise.”

“Although we hope never to be confronted by anything like this, it is prudent and reasonable that we should be prepared for such a worst-case scenario to be effective in the rapid deployment of our medical teams to minimise loss of life and damage to the community.”

For her part, the Minister for Health and Care, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, said it is important to continue to invest in training courses such as these.

“To ensure that our emergency and essential services, as well as our first responders at the GHA, have the necessary resources to deal with serious, unforeseen incidents,” she said.

“I would like to thank Carl Daniels for his support and expertise in best practice so that we are in the strongest possible position to respond to any such scenarios.”