Government opens up selection process for healthcare professionals that wish to form part of Spanish humanitarian emergency intervention team

Hence, the START team, known as "red jackets" since this is the official attire of AECID personnel, will have an elite healthcare team ready to be deployed in less than 72 hours in the event of a humanitarian emergency in which Spanish Cooperation decides to intervene.

To that end, the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality activated an online registration form on its webpage last week so that healthcare professionals and management and services personnel of healthcare institutions (with the profiles indicated) that are interested can register. Although the team will be formed by 48 professionals from the National Health System, 384 people will be pre-selected, eight for each one of the 48 profiles that make up the group.

This implementation of the database of professionals was agreed at the latest plenary session of the Human Resources Committee of the National Health System, held on 26 May, which was unanimously approved by the ministerial department, the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID) and the regional governments.

The Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality and AECID have been working together for some time now to set up this formal mobilisation mechanism, known as an emergency roster, for Spanish Cooperation. The project establishes Spain as a benchmark country both at a European level and on the international stage, together with such countries as Australia, Japan and Belgium.

Demanding quality requirements

START derives from the need to improve the quality of response in line with international standards required by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Civil Protection Mechanism. To implement this, the inclusion of the team in the WHO's international classification process has been initiated in order to form part of the list of resources available under the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

Accordingly, those countries that accept the deployment of a START team enjoy the guarantee that any Spanish intervention will meet the strictest quality requirements.

In order to meet these requirements, START is made up of professionals that can accredit extensive experience and have their own logistics team available every day of the year. Moreover, their emergency resources will include a Level 2 Field Hospital with surgical capacity.

In addition to doctors and nurses from the National Health System, START will be made up of engineers that are specialists in water and sanitation, logistics, and experts in electricity and electronics, among other fields. The deployment of the teams will be headed up by AECID personnel supported by personnel from the Technical Offices of Spanish Cooperation attached to their respective embassies.

Assignment of professionals from autonomous regions

Those professionals from the SNS that wish to form part of the START project must voluntarily request their incorporation on the roster or database by filling out a form that will be made available on the electronic headquarters of the webpage of the ministerial department, registering their personal details, professional information and documentation substantiating the foregoing.

The creation of the international medical team, which began with the agreement on 26 March 2015 of the Inter-regional Council of the National Health System, involves the necessary assignment of professionals by the autonomous regions.

This assignment is essential for the constitution of a database made up by those healthcare professionals and management and services professionals of healthcare institutions prepared to take part in the intervention tasks in response to international public health emergencies.

This is complemented by the regulation of conditions to gain access to the team under the legal conditions that establish the participation of personnel from the National Health System in humanitarian emergencies (included in the third additional provision of the Voluntary Work Act 45/2015, of 14 October).