James Agberebi
The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has announced plans to establish a School of Paramedics to enhance emergency medical services and save more lives.
The Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while highlighting the hospital’s medical strides and plans to accelerate quality healthcare services for citizens.
Paramedic is a health professional who’s part of an emergency medical services (EMS) team. They provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care.
They are not doctors, nurses, or physicians assistants.
Fabamwo there were few paramedics in the country due to gaps in paramedic training, which was not easily available in Nigeria.
“That’s the reason why many ambulances in Nigeria are manned by nurses instead of paramedics.
READ ALSO: Why LASUTH established Schools of Orthopaedic, Anaesthetic Tech-CMD
“The care that is given to a critically ill patient when you get to the scene is the most critical. If you mishandle a sick patient as a first responder, that can mess up treatment thereafter.
“So, we need to teach paramedics who will be able to apply first aid, stabilise the patient while in transit before they get to an emergency unit,” he said.
The CMD disclosed that the National Institute of Sports had approached LASUTH to collaborate with them to train paramedics.
“So, we want to work together so that we can produce more paramedics for the nation,” he said.
He affirmed that the hospital had the capacity and personnel required for the set-up, having established five training schools.
The CMD listed the schools to include School of Anesthetic Technology; School of Orthopedic Cast Technology; School of Echocardiography; Caregiver Academy, and the Institute of Advanced Professional Diploma in Hospital Administration and Management.
“If they had to go outside the country to procure these trainings, it’s going to cost thousands of dollars and we’ll be putting more strain on our foreign exchange.
“That’s why LASUTH management identified these gaps in the society and decided to plug it with our local human resources,” he said.
Fabamwo said that the schools were pivotal to enhancing the skills and knowledge of healthcare workers, boosting quality services and bridging the huge manpower gaps in the healthcare sector.
