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A long-serving Peterborough nurse has taken her emergency planning expertise to a hospital in Switzerland to assist medical staff prepare for a potential mass casualty incident.

Celia Kedrick, Head of Resilience and Emergency Preparedness at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, was among three professionals from the UK to travel to Geneva to deliver the two-day course.

Titled: 'Major Incident Medical Management and Support - The Practical Approach in the Hospital' (HMIMMS), the course was targeted at a group of doctors and nurses from hospitals around Switzerland.

 

Against a backdrop of Lake Geneva and the Swiss Alps, Celia was joined by two counterparts from Kettering and Cornwall - also from the medical charity, Advanced Life Support Group, where the international HMMIMS working group is based, to deliver the training.

Although the training was in French, Celia and the team were assisted by interpreters to ensure the criteria was adapted to meet the needs of the Swiss audience.

This included four table-top exercises in a scenario where mass casualties would require medical support; including Emergency Department arrival and triage, the role of theatres and critical care, media management and post event recovery activity. 

Celia, a nurse for over 45 years and with 21 years' experience of teaching and delivering the HMIMMS model around the UK and overseas said: “It is a wonderful opportunity to visit countries looking to introduce the training and getting courses off the ground. As a group, we go out and help hospitals achieve this - adapting to fit to the needs and the workforce.”

 

Celia took annual leave from her role at NWAngliaFT to deliver the latest course and has previous HMIMMS overseas teaching experience in Portugal - ahead of it hosting the 2004 UEFA European Championship - and the South African and Quatar football World Cups. 

Working cross site at Peterborough City and Hinchingbrooke and Stamford & Rutland  hospitals, Celia's next project will see her working on updating the course - with a new version due to be delivered across the country in early 2027.

Celia Kendrick, Head of Resilience and Emergency Preparedness at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust and the HMIMMS training in action.