EMT Stakeholders from Across Europe Strengthen Regional Collaboration
From 15 to 17 July 2025, representatives from 14 countries of the WHO European Region met in Frankfurt, Germany, for an Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) “Community of Practice” workshop. It aimed at strengthening connections between EMT partners in the region, creating more consistent opportunities for exchange and learning, and enhancing overall collaboration between stakeholders.
The event in Frankfurt was hosted by the EMT National Focal Point team of the RKI (unit ZIG 3) in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe. It was supported by the project “EMT Twinning, Training, Transfer of Knowledge”. Participants included 51 representatives from the Regional EMT group across all levels. Among them were EMT Team Focal Points, National Focal Points, Senior EMT experts, WHO EMT Collaborating Centers, WHO, and other relevant partners. Most of the represented countries were from outside of the EU, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Ukraine.
The idea of an EMT “Community of Practice” (CoP) was first introduced during the development of the EMT Regional Action Plan 2024–2030. However, its concept, including primary aims and objectives still had to be defined. This became one of the main purposes of the workshop. In addition to the fundamental set-up, participants of the workshop discussed CoP exchange formats and topics, digital tools for networking and information sharing. They also explored opportunities to enhance collaboration, build synergies, and improve interoperability. For many of the topics, participants could rely on experiences from existing sub-regional or national networks. These include the so-called Nordic Group, South Caucasus, Iberic Group, or the German EMT community.
Key results of the workshop included the establishment and enhancement of tools for exchange. These tools include the existing Knowledge and Information Management in Emergency Platform, EMT Newsletters, digital whiteboards, online EMT training calendars, and EMT web seminars, among others. The workshop identified several key focus areas. They were Operational Research and EMT, the Twinning approach to foster peer-to-peer exchange between teams, as well as joint EMT response to health crises.
Overall, the workshop demonstrated that a lot of exchange and collaboration already exists among EMT partners in the European region. To further strengthen EMT preparedness and response, more systematic and regular formats are needed to connect EMT stakeholders, support knowledge sharing, and facilitate collaboration. Developing these formats, however, will require the input from the entire EMT regional group and WHO.
