Group trains officials on quick life-saving response

To increase safety officials’ capacity to effectively manage pre-hospital emergencies, Health Emergency Initiative (HEI) has trained 30 Lagos officials of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

The Executive Director, HEI, Mr. Paschal Achunine, disclosed that the trained personnel could now effectively handle critical pre-hospital emergencies such as spinal cord injury, heart attack, cardiac arrest, choking, fractures, bites, burns, head and neck injury, fainting, bleeding among others.

The government officials were also empowered to preserve life and enhance the chances of survival of the victim to prevent illness or injury from becoming worse to relieve pains, where possible to promote recovery and protect the unconscious persons. 

The FRSC training was sponsored by Guinness Nigeria Plc. Prior to now, HEI has technical collaboration/MOUs with many instructors and organizations that are licensed by American Heart Association (AHA).

According to him: “HEI also gives timely support to patients who require emergency medical attention, especially post-crash care for accident victims, as well as provide certified training to citizens on First Aid, CPR, AED and Crowd Control.

“HEI pays hospital bills and provide intervention for indigent and vulnerable patients in public hospitals. We have, our newly established First Responders Academy to train thousands of First Responders in this year. We are set to train 100 secondary school students in 2 months time and concluded plan to train 2,000 for the rest of 2022.”

“The first responders scheme trains and equips emergency agencies, bystanders, individuals, groups and volunteers on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid, to ensuring victims of any kind of emergencies receive timely attention as well as change the current practice of taking pictures and videos at such scenes instead of taking positive actions.”

“It is also aimed at equipping Nigerians as First Responders, with skill such as administering First Aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Crowd Control Skills duly certified by the American Heart Association (AHA).

According to him, to change the narrative and project the ideal to serve as a catalyst for behavioural change, ensuring that the current practice of taking pictures during emergencies gives way to taking positive action.

“We have partnered with Tolaram Foundation for many years in PPE distribution and to give artificial limbs to patients and people in need of them.”

He observed that with a lot of lessons were not learnt from COVID-19 pandemic, as there was little or nothing done to revive the health sector, since the government cannot do it alone. “We can collectively support them to revamp alling-health industry.”

Achunine disclosed that HEl has worked with over 24 health facilities and institutions in Lagos.

“We want to acknowledge and appreciate Lagos State government and other organisations for supporting our projects. HEI has earned several awards including the Best Supporting NGO award from Lagos State Health Service Commission (the regulatory arm of Ministry of Health).

Recently, HEI was picked among the top 24 organisations/individuals that supported the fight against COVID-19 through the distribution of PPE for health workers in Africa.