By Abiodun Azi
Lagos – An NGO, Health Emergency Initiative (HEI), said that it trained 60 first responders on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in 2019.
It said that they had acquired skills to provide emergency care and attention to victims before the arrival of response team.
Mr Paschal Achunine, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NGO, said this on Monday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Achunine said that the training was designed under its first responders’ scheme as way of implementing its goal of `None Should Die’.
He said that the training had equipped the trainees with lifesaving skills needed to increase the chances of survival of emergency victims.
He said that those trained were certified by the American Heart Association.
He also said that the training, done in September, November and December produced 10 responders in first batch.
He said that the second batch produced 19 responders and the third batch produced 31 responders respectively.
He said that the criterion for the selection of the responders was based on recommendations from road traffic managers who worked daily on the roads controlling traffic.
He added that the organisation also received recommendations from law enforcement agencies, youths, corps members, students and interested volunteers.
Achunine said, “The main goal of the scheme is for trained participants to be able to attend to emergencies in the first critical minutes or hours before the arrival of medical personnel.
“It is also to improve the chances of survival and aid long term recovery by victims.”
He said that another benefit was to drive behavioural change among Nigerians so that people would stop taking pictures and videos at the scenes of accident.
Rather, they should learn to give first aid to victims of accidents, he said. (NAN)
