The OPCW and Government of Ukraine jointly organised a course on emergency medical assistance for the victims of chemical incidents or attacks, including chemical-warfare agents, in Kyiv from 7 to 11 May 2012. Eighteen Russian-speaking experts from 14 States Parties* took part in the course, which related to Article X of the Chemical Weapons Convention and was held at the Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Centre of Emergency Medical and Disaster Medicine.
The course targeted professionals and managers in the field of medical countermeasures to emergencies involving chemical warfare agents and other toxic chemicals. The agenda included theoretical lectures and practical exercises, with intensive discussion of issues related to national and international responses and medical countermeasures to a chemical attack during a mass gathering event.
A complex field exercise focused on mitigating the consequences of a chemical attack was conducted on the final day of the course with more than 200 representatives of different Ukrainian emergency response units participating. The exercise covered all stages from the first response in the incident area to hospital treatment of the victims.
*Armenia, Belarus, China, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia, Russia, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen and USA (as a lecturer).