15.12.2010 - Article
Diplomas awarded to Lebanese Red Cross instructors

Opening up a new era in humanitarian volunteer work

On 11 December 2010, 19 volunteer rescue workers of the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) received their diplomas as instructors with the Lebanese Emergency Medical Services. The graduation ceremony took place in the presence of the Lebanese medical authorities and their foreign counterparts. The event represented the culmination of a two-year training cycle under the direction of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Geneva University Hospitals, and the Geneva Paramedical College.

Diploma-awarding ceremony

According to Dr. Olivier Hagon, co-director of the training programme in Lebanon: “The success of this ambitious project owes a great deal to the good reputation enjoyed by the LRC and its capacity to bring together and pool the energies available.” The goal of the project is to enable the new instructors to replicate the training courses in all of the branches of the Lebanese Emergency Medical Services throughout the country.

By sheer willpower
The adaptation to international standards in the domain of traumatology and the progressive establishment of hospital-care structures in Lebanon are encouraging signs for the future.
This experience has also shown that the volunteer nature of the young Lebanese rescue workers’ function is in no way synonymous with amateurism. “Thanks to their unwavering enthusiasm, the LRC volunteers gave proof of their determination to succeed in a perfectly harmonious fusion of volunteer work and professionalism,” remarked Béatrice Crettenand, one of the project coordinators. And the ceremony at which they received their diplomas as instructors is ample confirmation of their achievement.