New Delhi, Delhi, December 9, 2014  To make Mumbai safe and better prepared for Emergencies and Crises, Mumbai policemen went through valuable training on Safety Preparedness and Emergency Management with Dr. Angeli Qwatra, Chairperson, Philanthrope in a workshop at the Police Worli Traffic Office today. Dr. Angeli Qwatra is a disaster management expert having national and international level experience.

The workshop was organised with the aim to make Police personnel more prepared for sudden emergency situations, which they are most likely to encounter in line of duty as police is the first responder to any emergency.

Dr. Angeli Qwatra emphasizing the dire need of these workshops said, “With the aim of saving lives, Philanthrope conducts free-of-cost workshops for training on Safety Preparedness and Emergency Management with government and private organizations which are on the frontline in encountering with such emergency situations. If people are trained in emergency management, lives lost and injuries caused due to natural and man-made disasters and daily life accidents and sudden illnesses can be prevented and/or reduced as also effectively managed till professional medical and other assistance reaches the victims. Studies have shown that when at least 30% of the population is trained in disaster preparedness, the chances of survival of victim increase considerably.”

She gave live demo on the first level of action post a disaster like earthquake, fire, medical emergency etc.. The trainingmodule of the workshop included lecture cum demonstration with audio-visual presentation and provided hands-onpractical training, thus making it easily understood and assimilated. The subjects covered in the workshop were:

  • Daily life safety management and emergency preparedness
  • Risk reduction and injury prevention for man-made and natural disasters
  • Measures for immediate, proper and effective handling of medical emergency victims (including life saving techniques of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Artificial Respiration (AR)) of:
  • Earthquakes, floods, cyclones, lightening strikes and other natural disasters
  • Terrorist attacks
  • Riots
  • Stampede
  • Road and rail traffic accidents
  • Other accidents like drowning, electrocution, fall, choking, fire, as well as daily life emergencies arising outof acute attacks of heart problems, asthma, hypoglycaemia, brain stroke, seizures, anaphylactic shock etc.

Dr. Qwatra is a Medical Anthropologist and holds M.Phil. and PhD degrees from the University of Delhi. She was also a Member of the Medical & Health Services Committee, Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010, where she trained the Games volunteers.

She has been sharing her expertise as a member of the Task Force committee of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and as a constituent member of the National platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) under Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India.

At international level, she is an active member of the UK-India network for Radiological Disasters, member of UNDP  Gender Solution exchange and has contributed as UNDP’s team for alleviating floods and water logging problems in Odisha.

She has several publications in this field to her credit. At the grass roots level she has contributed in the in the Emergency Preparedness training of the Police in various states of India, Government officials, officers of the Public Sector companies, hotels, hospitals malls, cineplexes, students and staff of schools and colleges and residents of urban villages and slums.

She has been trained in this field both in India, and abroad from the Safety First Institute, London, Emergency Planning College (UK), Oxford University- Chinese University of Hong Kong, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health(USA), Disaster recovery International (Singapore). Dr. Qwatra has also worked with the Royal British Army to get practical experience in rescue management. She has taken lead initiative as a part of various seminar committees in UNESCO, UNAIDS on issues related to Health education and awareness, Tribal health, Human development, Aged women and HIV/AIDS. Her vision is to involve communities in their own safety preparedness through training of one person every household.