The Ministry of Health (MOH), represented by the Hajj Training Committee, holds 145 training courses for its employees participating in this year's Hajj season, targeting over 6,100 persons. The MOH's special training program in Hajj focuses on handling cases of heat exhaustion and sunstrokes, dealing with cases at emergency and critical care departments, and the rapid crisis intervention to adults’ critical situations and basic and advanced life support. It also focuses on applying the precautions for controlling infections, epidemics, diseases, and most common injuries during Hajj, the preventive measures against main communicable diseases during Hajj, and the environmental surveillance of foodborne diseases outbreaks, in addition to the good management of medical wastes at health institutions. Besides, this program focuses on health monitoring at the entry points during mass gatherings, applying the work procedures in medical laboratories and the correct procedures for data registration in the Hajj statistical system, as well as the supervisory visits to stock control.
Makkah and Madinah regions have received the lion's share of these training courses and the MOH said that 67 training courses have been held since an earlier time, with the participation of 1,960 trainees from different regions of the Kingdom. Moreover, the MOH has intensified on clinical training and focused on training based on different scenarios of actual cases, by means of simulation and interactive toys. Furthermore, the theoretical lectures have been combined with practical applications, in addition to the coordination with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS) for the accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CME) hours for courses targeting health groups.
As for the e-training, the MOH has prepared the scientific materials of 51 training courses, in coordination with the competent authorities, the matter which enables the health practitioners assigned to work during this year Hajj season to join these training courses before commencing work at the Holy Sites and to examine the gained information via a website specially designed for this purpose.