The Spanish Technical Aid Response Team (START) is a team of public health professionals and support personnel that is prepared to deploy within 72 hours to a
humanitarian crisis anywhere in the world.
The team is also known as the Red Vests due to the red vests worn by its members while in the field.
Organized by the Humanitarian Action Office of the
Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), START was certified as a specialized team by the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
(WHO) on as part of its Emergency Medical Team (EMT) initiative.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20210317061539if_/https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/DP%2031_05%20START%20Equipo%20M%C3%A9dico%20de%20Emergencia%20Espa%C3%B1ol.pdf ] START is classified as an EMT II team, able to provide
primary care as well as surgical support and hospitalization.
START was first deployed in 2019 to
Dondo,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, in response to the humanitarian emergency caused by
Cyclone Idai.
In Mozambique, the team deployed a
field hospital
A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...
about the size of a
football pitch.
The team was also part of the Spanish humanitarian response to the
unplanned explosions at a munitions site in
Bata,
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
in early 2021.
References
External links
Emergency Medical Teams(World Health Organization)
Emergency medicine organisations
Humanitarian aid organizations in Europe
Medical and health organisations based in Spain
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