‘Include first aid training in school curriculum’
A paramedic, Mr Tony Kwame Apedzi, has appealed to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to include basic first aid training in the school curriculum.
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Such training, he said, would ensure an increase in the numbers of first aiders in the country and thus help to enhance healthcare delivery.
Mr Apedzi, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the St John’s Ambulance Ghana, said there were a lot of deaths resulting from medical emergencies that could be avoided with the application of basic first aid skills.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra last Wednesday, Mr Apedzi named the medical emergencies to include drowning, heart attack, bleeding, animal bites, cardiac arrests and fainting.
“If first aid is applied when necessary immediately a medical emergency occurs, it increases the chances of survival for any victim,” he said.
He indicated that it would be ideal for at least half of the population to be first aiders, and stressed that should there be a first aider present any time someone encountered a medical emergency, medical fatality rates would reduce drastically.
He noted that while it might not be possible for people to carry first aid kits and tools around, having the knowledge could be useful in situations of animal bites, cardiac arrests, fainting and other such medical emergencies.
“First aid is an important skill; by performing certain simple processes and following basic instructions taught in a nursing school, you can save a person’s life or extend the possibility of survival until medical care arrives,” he added.
Other advantages
Mr Apedzi said if first aid was embraced voluntarily and applied properly by the public, it could also reduce the pressure on health facilities apart from saving more lives.
He, therefore, expressed regret that despite the importance of first aid, stakeholders had not given it any priority, particularly medical emergencies which were inevitable in all endeavours.
He said for its part, the St John’s Ambulance, Ghana was committed to training volunteers, school pupils, students and workers across the country, as first aiders to enhance healthcare delivery.
Mr Apedzi said the service was ready to collaborate with all institutions who wished to train their staff in first aid.
Training exercise
He announced that in line with its vision to train half of the population in first aid, the St John’s Ambulance Ghana had committed its 79th anniversary, which is being celebrated this year, to the training of pupils in public schools.
Participants in the five-day training exercise will be taught the latest first-aid procedures practised worldwide.
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