Experts from Hungary, Cyprus, Italy, Finland, Germany, Greece and Slovenia presented key topics to 30 participants from 26 countries (24 Member States plus Iceland and Switzerland) at the European Medical and Psychological Experts Network for Law Enforcement seminar (CEPOL 57/2014 - “EMPEN”) held in Budapest on 25 - 28 August 2014.
The aims of this event were to share knowledge and best practices about healthcare and psychological support; how to better detect the needs of colleagues for psychological support; understand how traumatic incidents impacts on police work; and how to help police officers deal with these incidents.
Specific topics during the course included:
- Police Medic – a Hungarian concept
- Establishing an office providing psychological support services for police officers in Cyprus
- Medical and psychological support for crowd management tasks and for shooting training
- Medical support following the natural and civilization catastrophe in Acquila, Italy
- Guidelines to support police officers dealing with minors who are victims of crime
- Early intervention and support
- Lectures about medical and psychological tasks in emergencies.
In addition to the above presentations and topics, the course provided opportunity for practical training and evaluation. There were also visits to the Riot Police, the National Police Headquarters and the Parliament building.
Participants and experts expressed their appreciation and satisfaction with the course. The following comments were taken from participant evaluation forms:
“Excellent teachers, pertinent topics, perfect logistics, very good emotional positive exchange”
“The knowledge I gained will help me improve my skills in the area of psychology”
