Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) Training in Moldova

From August 1^st to 3^rd, a DMAT training was held in Chisinau at the IMSP National Centre for Emergency Pre-hospital Medical Assistance by inviting 5 medical experts from Japan DMAT (J-DMAT) with 2 purposes: 1) to explain the structure and system of J-DMAT and 2) to discuss the most appropriate structure of Moldovan DMAT amongst relevant experts in this field. In total, 20 representatives from key hospitals as well as a fire department participated in the training program.

JICA helped organized this training upon a request from the Government of Moldova to support Moldova’s endeavor of reorganizing and strengthening the capacity of the current medical disaster management system. The need for this is obvious because Moldova hosts approximately 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and various potential risks associated with the unstable situation in the region.

During the training, the participants were divided into two groups to conduct table-top exercises and had intensive discussions on the structure of Moldovan DMAT including the division of roles, procedures, actions that need to be taken by relevant institutions, and so on.

At the end of the training, the participants reached a tentative agreement about the structure and system of Moldovan DMAT and agreed on the necessity of the DMAT in Moldova. Thanks to the welcoming results, they thanked the JICA team for this valuable achievement. Also, they appreciated the fact that this training was the first opportunity for Moldovan counterparts to discuss the reorganization of disaster medicines among all the key stakeholders in Moldova.

JICA Ukraine Office appreciated all the participants, the Ministry of Health, and trainers from Japan DMAT. In November 2023, as a next step, JICA plans to conduct second training program in Japan towards the establishment of Moldovan DMAT.