College of the North Atlantic - Qatars Security Academy, in cooperation with the Department of Health Sciences, hosted a one-day Pandemic Crisis Management Workshop on May 26. The event, the first of its kind hosted by the College, welcomed health and security professionals from across Qatar to discuss planning strategies in the face of a pandemic.

"In light of recent world events this is a particularly timely workshop," said CNA-Q President Dr. Harald Jorch. "To bring experts from Qatar and Canada to the table to discuss the planning and implementation of crisis management plans is an opportunity that rarely occurs. That so many people from across Qatar will be able to learn from the experiences of the speakers, and from each other, is exciting."

Keynote speaker, Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Director of Public Health for the State of Qatar provided an overview of the life cycle of a pandemic and relayed Qatars response to an outbreak from the points of view of everyone from government to the medical response teams who deal directly with patients.

Patricia Davies, Senior National Security Planner for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, shared her insights from events including the SARS outbreak in Canada, Hurricane Katrina and many others and Qatar Airways representatives Mr. Ashish Jain and Dr. A. Soha discussed their organizations response to the H1N1 outbreak.

Before participants moved to the planning exercise, Joan Egan gave an overview of management and continuity planning to ensure not only infrastructure is in place but also address the human elements including staffing and personnel policies.

"Our participants came from a range of organizations across Qatar," said Security Academy Director Bernard Barbe. "I believe the information they received today will help ensure their organizations are prepared in the face of a future pandemic."