Meet NO FEAR
NO FEAR (Network Of practitioners For Emergency medicAl systems and cRitical care) is a 5-year European Commission funded project (June 2018 – May 2023) that brings emergency medical care practitioners, suppliers, academia, decision makers and policy makers together to collaborate and exchange knowledge, good practices and identify lessons learned. Many of the NO FEAR partners are front-line responders to the COVID-19 pandemic and their experiences during this time are instrumental to informing the project and its activities. In fact, it will enable partners to identify gaps in the current operational system and potentials for forthcoming research to ensure that we are more resilient to threats such as COVID-19 in the future. Many of the project’s activities are now geared towards building a better response to COVID-19 such as the project’s series of webinars. Indeed, a webinar was held in April on the “lessons Identified on Ventilation techniques from the Pre-hospital to the ICU in COVID-19 management.” The webinar, which featured presentations by the NO FEAR practitioner partners and invited guests, focused on the lessons identified in different countries on ventilation and the protection of Health Care providers while treating patients. Another webinar held in March consisted of NO FEAR partners discussing the response to the COVID-19 outbreak across four different countries – Italy, Spain, Israel and France, and differences in diagnosis, treatment, acute patient care and emergency response. These webinars clearly showcase the partners’ involvement in COVID-19. They are also essential activities in achieving greater cross-border collaboration, the cross fertilisation of ideas, the identification of best practices, and the development of a common understanding of the innovation potential in emergency medical care which is increasingly necessary in an area where threats are constantly emerging and evolving. In conjunction with NO FEAR’s focus and webinars on COVID-19, the project will launch a campaign on 18th May to showcase NO FEAR’s partners’ contributions to tackling the pandemic in which it will introduce the public to its front-line responders. This will bring these front-line responders closer to the public and will increase the public’s understanding of their work and actions in tackling the pandemic. This action will be essential to better informing the public on the pandemic and the response of European Commission funded projects. With greater understanding, we can also seek to tackle the misinformation and panic that is currently spreading across social media and traditional media outlets. To access resources, including webinars, events and forums, sign up to become part of NO FEAR’s network.
Keywords
pandemic, emergency medicine, emergency response, health, public health, global health, COVID-19, COVID19