Working with end-users has been an essential early step for STAMINA. Throughout the first months of the project, the partners have been busy hosting many local end-user workshops across Europe, with the primary aim of identifying the challenges faced by professionals working in the fields of pandemic threats and crisis management.
One example of such an event was held on 19 November 2020 by the Population Protection Institute (from the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic) in collaboration with the Energy Security Platform of the Czech Republic.
The current COVID-19 situation is obviously causing a great deal of work for our end users who are all trying to find the best way through this pandemic. Nevertheless, ten experts from different areas in the field came together to provide valuable insights into the potential role of STAMINA in work in hospitals, crisis management, and recovery. Participants included the Chief Infectologist of the Czech army, and representatives of the emergency medical services, of the general directorate of the Fire and Rescue Service (responsible for crisis planning), from a company fighting with infections through decontamination, and from academia.
Over two hours, the STAMINA partners leading the workshop were able to gather a significant amount of interesting and important information that will feed into the next stages of developing the STAMINA tools. All participants agreed that the work of STAMINA was both useful and necessary. The COVID-19 crisis has particularly illustrated the need for advancement in the preparedness and response tools for potential future pandemics.
Each of these workshops has been both fruitful and vital for the progression of the STAMINA project. We would like to extend a huge thank you to all participants.