Project HOPE and DisasterReady.org Launch One of the First Online COVID-19 Trainings for Frontline Workers
BETHESDA, MD (June 22, 2020) – Today Project HOPE announced it has joined forces with DisasterReady.org to launch one of the first online COVID-19 trainings for health workers and others on the frontlines of the pandemic worldwide. Four of the eight courses in this free training entitled COVID-19 Training for Health Workers: Preparedness and Response are now live on DisasterReady.org, and additional courses will soon follow.
“We are proud to partner with DisasterReady.org to help ensure all health workers and other frontline personnel have access to this vital COVID-19 training,” said Project HOPE President and CEO Rabih Torbay. “Without the knowledge and skills to safely and effectively screen, triage, and treat patients, all the protective gear in the world cannot keep health workers safe.”
“The ever-changing circumstances around COVID-19 treatment require frontline healthcare workers to have the right training so they can respond rapidly, while also protecting their own health, said Tina Bolding, Director of DisasterReady.org. “We are proud to partner with Project HOPE and SweetRush to transform this training into an interactive, online format and make the courses freely available on DisasterReady to expand access for healthcare workers around the world.”
The COVID-19 Training for Health Workers: Preparedness and Response curriculum was developed earlier this year by Project HOPE and the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at the Watson Institute of Brown University. The courses were originally delivered in person in a “train the trainer” format for health facilities in high-risk countries. Thanks to the generous support of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, Project HOPE was able to work with the experts at DisasterReady.org, a signature program of the Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation, and SweetRush, a custom learning solutions provider known for its support of foundations and nonprofits, to convert the live training modules into free, on-demand online courses for frontline workers.
These eight interactive, online courses teach core competencies, including biology and transmission mechanisms; infection prevention and control; contact tracing; screening and triage; diagnosis and management; stabilization and resuscitation; health facility operations and surge capacity; and risk communication and public health messaging.
To ensure COVID-19 Training for Health Workers: Preparedness and Response is available as soon as possible, the free online courses will be rolled out in phases. All eight courses are expected to be live on DisasterReady.org by July 2020.
For more information on Project HOPE’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit www.projecthope.org.
About Project HOPE
Project HOPE has more than 60 years’ experience responding to some of the world’s greatest health crises, including being one of the only international humanitarian relief organizations on the ground in Wuhan as the COVID-19 outbreak began. Since January, Project HOPE has been providing critical supplies, training, and other support to frontline health workers treating patients and working to contain the spread of the virus globally, including in the U.S. For more information on Project HOPE, visit projecthope.org and follow @projecthopeorg.
About DisasterReady.org
DisasterReady.org is an open online learning portal established by the Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation in 2012 to increase the preparedness and effectiveness of humanitarian relief and development workers around the world. Developed in collaboration with leading aid agencies and humanitarian experts, DisasterReady.org brings together essential training resources and social learning communities to build skills and promote knowledge sharing of aid workers anywhere, anytime at no cost. Today, more than 200,000 active learners come together on DisasterReady to develop new skills and collaborate with colleagues from over 190 countries. By providing high-quality, accessible humanitarian and development training at no cost, DisasterReady.org enables aid workers to do what they do best: save lives, rebuild communities, and restore hope. www.disasterready.org