One Health EJP SimEx Workshop: Preparation for the OHEJP SimEx
With aim of training the National and Local Exercise Leaders, the One Health EJP SimEx organised an online workshop, on the 21st to 23rd March of 2022.
The One Health EJP Simulation Exercise (OHEJP SimEx) aims to give the opportunity to OHEJP partner institutes to deal with outbreak situations using a One Health perspective. The OHEJP SimEx scenario focuses on sharing of relevant data, when and how to cooperate, and improve understanding of the different prerequisites for each sector. Each participating institute assigned Local Exercise Leaders (LELs) and Local Evaluators (LEs), to prepare their participation on a national basis. LELs are responsible for leading the exercise, selecting the training audience, and keeping them on track throughout the exercise. In each country, one of the LELs is responsible for national coordination (National Exercise Leader, NEL). LEs are responsible for the evaluation during and after the conduction.
In March, the OHEJP SimEx organised a workshop for NELs and LELs to provide them with the skills and knowledge needed to run the exercise successfully in their countries. The NELs and LELs were debriefed on the scenario and provided tools. Experts from the SVA – National Veterinary Institute, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) and World Health Organization (WHO) also highlighted the scientific and socio-economic importance of these exercises and presented lessons learned and examples of previous events and useful tools.
NELs and LELs from a total of 26 institutes (22 belonging to the OHEJP partnership) from 13 countries attended this workshop. After a crash course on being a NEL/LEL, workshops and discussions were conducted in breakout rooms on parts of the scenario and the tools developed within the OHEJP were introduced.
After the workshop a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) relating to the conduction of SimEx was made available on the SimEx website, for all NEL/LELs to consult.
This workshop was an opportunity for the SimEx team to meet in person, for the first time since it was formed in 2021, and to hear feedback from the NELs and LELs on the scenario. This workshop was very well received by the NELs and LELs and gave them the confidence to run the SimEx in their own country.
