Highlight — Medical evacuation training in Guéckédou, Guinea
WFP organized a MedEvac simulation exercise in Guéckédou in partnership with MSF Belgium, using a UNHAS Bell 205 helicopter equipped for the in-country movement of symptomatic humanitarian and aid workers. This is the second exercise conducted by WFP in Guinea, following the one organized in Macenta in partnership with ALIMA.
The purpose is to train staff of WFP, its partners and the helicopter crew on the Standard Operating Procedures required to correctly perform to this specific kind of MedEvac. WFP will continue to organize similar trainings in the future with its partners to increase the preparedness of all the actors involved in the humanitarian response and to ensure an efficient execution of the procedures in the event that a real MedEvac is needed. A second helicopter (Bell 412) for MedEvac of symptomatic aid workers will be based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and is expected to arrive in the country next week.
In numbers
To date, in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone:
More than 2.6 million people reached since the end of August 2014;
5,200 responders transported by UNHAS, with four planes and two helicopters in operation; and
30,200 m3 of cargo transported since September 2014.