The World Health Organization (WHO), with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, launched Egypt’s second national training-of-trainers (ToT) programme on mass casualty management (MCM) for hospital emergency units.

The initiative, involving WHO’s 3 levels – headquarters, the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Egypt Country Office – is part of WHO Egypt’s Health Emergencies Programme and aims to enhance emergency preparedness while strengthening the long-term resilience of the Egyptian health care system. The ToT certified 16 national instructors who were immediately deployed to train 60 health care professionals from 6 hospitals in Greater Cairo and Ismailia.

Mass casualty incidents (MCIs) cause a sudden surge of patients that can overwhelm hospital systems. The WHO MCM package equips emergency departments with the tools and skills needed to rapidly recognize, triage, resuscitate and route patients, helping to ensure that life-saving care is delivered efficiently and effectively, even in resource-limited settings.