As airlines across the world grounded planes, thousands of Flight Attendants became redundant overnight. Some Airlines in Sweden, Singapore and the United Kingdom acknowledged the skills of their Cabin Crew and encouraged them to apply their medical emergency training on assisting the hard-working heroes in healthcare.
The Crew Squad Training Program is an outcome of a multi field collaboration in Finland. It is now distributed free of charge to support the healthcare sector across the world.
WHO WE ARE
350 CREW MEMBERS – 8 DIFFERENT AIRLINES
The Crew Squad Training Program was initiated by two Finnish Cabin Crew members - Ami Niemelä and Ira Linnéa von Witte - in pursuit to rapidly train laid-off Flight and Cabin Crew, who shared the concern for the capacity of healthcare under pressure due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The program instantly generated interest among aviation workforce. Within 24 hours more than 200 flight crew members from 8 different airlines operating in Finland applied to the program, which was launched on 16th April 2020.
The Crew Squad-program was equally well received by a broad spectrum of national actors in Finland; authorities, ministries, hospitals, NGOs, education institutions and potential financiers. Niemelä and von Witte engaged three education institutions in order to create the syllabus of the course and applied for financial support. The general goodwill made it possible to implement the project plan, subsequently the Crew Squad-program received funding from three foundations and four companies.
THE PROGRAM IS NOW GLOBALLY DISTRIBUTED FOR FREE
HOW DOES IT WORK?
SKHOLE A UNIQUE ONLINE PLATFORM – FREE FOR 3 MONTHS
An online learning platform is provided for free of charge for a period of three months by Skhole Finland. The content is visually built on modules, which makes the syllabus extremely clear and attractive - rather unique for an online learning in healthcare education (the platform design has reminiscent of Netflix set-up). Moreover, the Skhole platform offers many other additional English courses within healthcare and effective tools to measure the results. The successful completion of each course along with its’ respective test will provide a diploma.
The curriculum of the 5-day training includes theoretical and digital studies and specific practical skills and group tasks. The syllabus includes medical topics and healthcare procedures that are not yet covered in aviation medical training and thus provide basic proficiencies to the Cabin Crew members and hence facilitate their introduction to Healthcare environment. The Crew Squad Training Program is held in the official Aviation language, English and a Certificate is provided upon completion of the training.
WHO IS IT FOR?
THE CREW SQUAD TRAINING PROGRAM CAN BE REQUESTED AND ACCUIRED FOR GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION BY
Any Vocational Institution
Healthcare Institution
Airline
The material is free of charge, yet a nominal administrative fee of 100€ applies for sending the material, instructions and digital platform access codes. For implementation of the program, it necessitates only a group leader to administer the tests and tasks, since all the interactive seminars, which in Finland are conducted by two qualified healthcare instructors, have been replaced by recorded seminars.
If you represent an airline, education or health institution and wish to gather a group of Crew Members to provide them the Crew Squad Training Program, please contact us here.
HOW ARE WE IMPLEMENTING IT IN FINLAND?
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
220 Finland-based Cabin Crew members were trained during a period of three weeks. Many of them are now working in hospitals and nursing homes. The various tasks to support health professionals include routine clinical and administrative duties e.g. greeting, preparing and lifting patients, sterilizing medical instruments, disposing of contaminated supplies.
Part of the Crew Squad in Finland remain on stand-by, ready to help at any time. The coronavirus infections are currently showing a lowering curve in Finland, yet the dismantling of restrictions might rapidly change the situation. The Finnish institute for Health and Welfare THL confirms that the coronavirus epidemic has a far-reaching effect on well-being and other health services.
The Crew Squad-program was rapidly created amidst the crisis. The advantage is not only in its’ applicability to train and prepare Cabin Crews, but in its’ transformability in view of future needs in various fields. In the face of the global crisis people have experienced the feeling of togetherness. It is our wish to share our experiences and globally distribute this program for free.
THE PEPOLE BEHIND IT
“We are in this together. Flight crew is a great fit for the purpose and is able to offer relief to healthcare services after completing the training so that qualified healthcare personnel can to a greater extent devote themselves to caring for patients”, von Witte and Niemelä describe their motivation to initiate the CREW SQUAD -training program, while proceeding with project leadership.
COLLABORATIONS
In the face of coronavirus crisis, the good message has been about unity, about coming together. In Finland the CREW SQUAD -training program was well received by a broad spectrum of national actors; authorities, ministries, hospitals, NGOs, education institutions and potential financiers.
IN THIS TOGETHER!
Successful Collaborations, Pro Bono workers, Service Providers, Donation givers and moral supporters:
