Over 600 residents of Benin City, Edo State, were yesterday trained by the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), in Basic Life Support (BSL) for first responders.
The training programme with the theme: “Advancing the legacy of quality healthcare”, is part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of the hospital, coming up on May 12, 2023.
Participants at the training which was held at the Oba Ovoranmwen Park, Mission Road, Benin City, Edo State, included security operatives, para military operatives, journalists and other members of the public, including market women.
It provided participants with the knowledge and skill required for Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and other relevant procedures needed in emergency situations.
The chief medical director of the hospital, Dr Darlington Obaseki, said the essence of the programme is to train those who are not doctors on how to resuscitate people who are on medical emergencies.
“We as a hospital, we decided that we want to use this opportunity of our 50th Anniversary to come and teach the whole society, especially the first responders, namely, the Road Safety, the Police operatives and journalists. They are usually the first at events.
“If you’re a journalist covering an event and somebody collapses, should you be waiting for a doctor to come, No! That’s why we are here to teach us what to do in such situations. You don’t have to be a doctor, you don’t have to go to medical school to do these things,” Obaseki said.
He further disclosed that the management of the hospital has arranged series of events as a give-back to members of the public, as a build-up to the anniversary day.
The deputy coordinator of the Paramedic Training School of UBTH, Dr Abebe John, disclosed that the training is to create awareness of life-saving skills, to save members of the public that could be involved in any kind of emergency. He said many persons are not aware of these life-saving skills.
“Some persons might be aware, but have ignored them over the years, and so, many persons died as a result of these skills not been used on them. That is why we are bringing it to the awareness of the public so that they can save humanity.
“This training is very important because, from day-to-day, we have emergencies. Emergencies are not planned, they are not prepared for. We need to know what to do first, we can call it first aid. If the first aid is not properly done, the outcome is not likely to be very good.
“The programme is to train all first responders to respond properly to emergencies. Anybody that is a public person, that goes around, should have an idea of what to do, to at least not to kill the person in the process of trying to assist the person.
“It is to teach them step by step of what to do in any emergency situation, especially when there is a loss of consciousness or when there is an accident and there is bleeding or multiple injuries, we want to know what to do to prevent having more complications interacting with the victims,” he added.
The highlight of the training programme was presentation of certificates to participants.
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