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Training Materials

USAID specialists present information on electrification to health facility engineers at the training facility in Jacmel, Haiti. (Photo: Jeff Haeni)

Training health care staff on energy management practices is a vital component to successful health facility electrification efforts.

Any investment in health facility energy technologies must go hand-in-hand with frequent training on the operation, use, and maintenance of the system. Each stakeholder must be equipped to carry out his or her duties.

Training staff to install and maintain energy systems is often the first step to ensure system sustainability in developing countries. The successful implementation and operation of an electrification program will likely involve a multi-tiered support structure and training will be required at each level.

At the facility level, health care professionals or another local stakeholder must be trained to perform basic system operation and care. This is particularly important for remote locations where service personnel are not likely to make regular visits. Experience has demonstrated that with minimal training energy system owners are capable of performing the required routine maintenance checks required for a system to operate successfully. Ideally, this local user training should be a required component of system installation protocols. The distribution of “user guides” is also recommended in case of staff turnover.

When the local user encounters a problem that they are unable to repair, they must have a pre-determined contact at the regional or national level that is trained to diagnose and correct all potential system problems. These individuals should be energy professionals with extensive training in the proper installation and operation of that particular system. These technicians could be employed by a government agency, or they could be hired from the private sector. The number of installations, size of a country, and accessibility of the facilities in a given country will determine if this support can be provided at the national level or if regional representatives are required.

Haiti Training Materials

In a country-wide assessment completed in October of 2007, SunEnergy Power International and the Energy Team of USAID recommended that the next step for Haiti was to increase their in-country capabilities for proper installation of inverter / battery systems, and provided this training in May, 2008. The presentations used are provided below.

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December 2011 training participants.

Tetra Tech, December 5-9, 2011

The IHFI project's training efforts continued in December with another training workshop in Port-au-Prince. 13 hospital technicians, 1 administrator and 2 technical staff from the Ministry of Health Project Management Unit (UGP) were trained on operation, maintenance and data logging on battery, inverter and diesel generator systems. This workshop also featured additional training materials in Creole which will be expanded upon for future trainings.

The workshop generated good will and a sense of empowerment among technicians, something that has typically been lacking in many health facilities in Haiti. Moreover, the workshop helped build relationships among the technicians, and more importantly, between technicians and the UGP.

Course materials are available below:

Training participants displaying their certificates of completion.

Tetra Tech and Haiti Tec, March 28-31, 2011

USAID's Improving Health Facility Infrastructure (IHFI) project designed and implemented a training workshop for hospital technicians in the maintenance and monitoring of key power backup systems (batteries, inverters, diesel generators) being installed in Haitian health facilities. IHFI worked with the Ministry of Health Project Management Unit (UGP) which sponsored and co- funded the training, including bringing 21 hospital technicians and some administrative and other technical staff from facilities throughout Haiti to Port-au-Prince for four days of training.

Workshop materials and basic electrical tools were provided to each technician, and interactive, hands-on sessions were designed to meet the training objectives. In addition, participants were taught how to measure and log readings in logbooks and sheets designed for this purpose.

Course materials are available below:

Training participants at the Haiti National Reference Laboratory.

SunEnergy Power International, May 12-23, 2008

The two week training course held in May 2008 was sponsored by the USG PEPFAR program and the Haiti National Reference Laboratory. The training was targeted at health facility managers and laboratory specialists and the agenda covered options for providing health facilities with continuous and high quality power needed for effective operation.

The first week of training covered key concepts and design issues while the second week focused on hands-on application of the material as the class retrofitted a health facility. The training course manual covered the design, installation, and operation of back-up power systems (inverters, batteries, generators, power conditioners and solar). Several trainees and private sector energy service providers made presentations throughout the training course.

During the second week of training, students designed and installed an energy system for a nearby health facility. The students trained the health facility manager on the operation and basic maintenance of the system and a contract was signed with a local service provider to maintain the energy systems.

Course materials are available below:

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