In its drive to cater for the health of the citizenry especially during emergencies, Abia State Government has approved and pledged full logistics support for the training of military, para-military and other allied personnel on their role during medical emergencies in the state.
The state deputy governor, Dr. Ude Oko Chukwu, made this known when he represented the state governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, at the flag- off of the training of 150 selected officers of the Nigerian Army, Navy, Police, Road Safety Corps, Civil Defence, Prisons, State Fire Service and Life Guards at Swimming Pools among others, on emergency medical skillset that include cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automated external defibrillator (AED), Basic Life Saving (BLS) and First Aid care.
The eight days training, which was organized under the auspices of the Abia State Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and has Jemisun Allied Training and Healthcare Services, United States (US) Incorporated as the facilitator.
The training was conducted by Instructors engaged by government from the US under the American Heart Association’s HeartSaver CPR AED programme.
The project was tagged: “to equip the trainees with specialized skills that will make them capable of rendering quick assistance to victims of accidents, drowning, heart attack and injuries before taking them to hospital.”
According to the state EMS Medical Director, Dr. Chukwuemeka Nwakanma, the training is an extension of the state emergency medical services aimed at reducing mortality rate from emergency medical cases including response time to such emergencies adding that the training is in line with American Heart Association guidelines.
He recalled that 140 rural and urban health workers from the state 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) were last year similarly trained and equipped under the American Heart Association programme for Basic Life Support and Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation.
While the Chief Training Facilitator of Jemisun Allied Training and Healthcare Services, Judith Nwakanma, urged the trainees to acquire the skills to enable them save lives and prevent “unnecessary deaths.”
The Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Health, Mr. Godfrey Agu, said that the training is a milestone in governor Ikpeazu’s drive to provide better health for the state citizenry.
©Guardian
