• Develop a Ukrainian Training-of-Trainers (TOT) program in emergency care, to be located at the regional EMS Training Center, which will allow for the training of additional instructors in Kiev.
• Ensure a high level of educational competency and administrative support at the center.
• Ensure a high level of educational and program competency at satellite training centers, to be developed and opened in other urban locations in Ukraine.
• Conduct an educational and administrative assessment of the program, to monitor the quality of training and make improvements to the curriculum and delivery of training programs.
• Design, train, and implement - in coordination with other NIS partners - a Continuous Quality Improvement program, to provide the necessary information to determine the effectiveness of the center's pre-hospital educational program.

• On June 1, the partners celebrated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Coney Island Hospital and Emergency Medical Services Hospital in Kiev.
• In November, the first EMS training course was completed at the new EMS Center in Kiev. Thirty-two students successfully completed the course, including professionals from Kiev, Donetsk and Zaporizhya.
• On December 15, the partners celebrated the official opening of the National EMS/Disaster Medicine Training Center in Kiev, on the campus of the city's Emergency Medical Services Hospital. The Center was one of eleven EMS Training Centers developed by AIHA and its partnerships in the NIS to provide local capacity to train emergency first responders.
• In addition to the opening ceremony, representatives of the Training Center developed and negotiated an administrative order, signed by the City Health Administrator, requiring all feldshers in the city to receive their continuing education at the center. Preliminary discussions were also held on the training of presidential secret service personnel at the Center.

• In March, E-mail and Internet connections were installed on the Kiev Center's computer which significantly increased and facilitated communication between Kiev and New York City.
• In March, the Ukrainian faculty at the EMS Center took part in a training course in administration, coordination, data collection and evaluation of certification exams offered by three US partners from Coney Island Hospital and New York City EMS.
• Representatives from the Kiev EMS Center participated in the AIHA conference on "Hazardous Material Management in Disaster Management" held in Tallinn, Estonia, May 10-17.
• A special group of Ukrainians planning to travel to Antarctica participated in a September training course at the EMS Center. The event was broadcast on national television.

• Two representatives from Kiev's EMS Center participated in the New York City Fire Department Course Coordinator's Training Program in April.
• Five EMS specialists from Coney Island, Boston, and Austin traveled to Kiev in August to teach the Infection Control Training-of-Trainers workshop. Two delegates from each of AIHA's EMS Centers in the NIS attended this workshop.
• Two US delegates from Coney Island and two NIS delegates from the Kiev Regional EMS Training Center traveled to Atlanta for AIHA's Fifth Annual Partnership Conference.
• Immediately following AIHA's Annual Conference, four delegates from Kiev traveled to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for a two-week training program entitled, "Medical Education and Inter-regional Harmonization Program for Nuclear Accident Preparedness." The course was hosted by the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS) and funded by AIHA and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

• In January, the Kiev EMS Center hosted "Echo V," the second phase of the Medical Education and Inter-regional Harmonization Program for Nuclear Accident Preparedness introduced in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
• Two delegates from Kiev traveled to Coney Island in June to study disaster response and review partnership accomplishments. During their stay, the delegates attended a lecture on weapons of mass destruction presented by the Deputy Medical Director of the New York City Fire Department, and traveled to Albany to meet with state-level EMS experts.

Emergency Medical Services

• As a result of the efforts of the Training Center's leadership, in June of 1996 the Minister of Health issued an order requiring all ambulances throughout Ukraine to be supplied with specialized equipment. This equipment, which was introduced at the EMS Training Center, includes spinal immobilization devices and extrication cervical collars.
• Since the opening of the Kiev EMS Training Center through the end of 1998, a total of nearly 1,500 persons have been trained, including 650 physicians and 400 feldshers. Other trainees have included inspectors of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (fire fighters, highway patrol officers), specialists affiliated with other professional rescue services, and the Presidential Security Staff. The Kiev EMS Training Center continues to conduct a monthly pre-hospital care course for emergency healthcare professionals.
• At the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Partnership developed a "First Responder" Program.
• As AIHA's EMS special initiative has grown, the Partnership has assumed the role of a major training and educational facility for emergency and disaster medicine. In August of 1997, the US and Ukrainian partners presented a "Train-the-Trainers" course entitled: "Infection Control for the Pre-Hospital Care Provider" to the faculty members of AIHA's EMS Training Centers.
• The Partners conducted an Instructor Training Program for new Instructors. The faculty members of the Kiev EMS Center, in concert with their US colleagues, assumed the role of Instructor Trainers for the system of satellite EMS training centers throughout Ukraine.
• In June of 1997, the Partners met with senior representatives of the Ukraine Ministry of Health in order to discuss reform of the EMS System in Ukraine. All parties pledged their assistance in helping to create an efficient emergency medical service and national disaster medical system.
• The Center played an active role in the training of instructors for the new EMS Training Centers which opened in L'viv and Donetsk in 1998. The Center will continue to play a key role in monitoring the quality of instruction at the two new Centers.