Bayelsa, HEI train teachers in emergency response

The Bayelsa State Government has urged teachers trained as first responders to apply the skills acquired to save lives and educate other members of their communities on basic emergency response.

The government said the training was particularly important because emergencies could occur in schools, homes and public places, where immediate intervention could make a difference before professional medical help arrived.

The Director of Secondary Education, Ministry of Education, Mrs Bekere Zuokumor, who represented the Commissioner for Education at the closing of the three-day first responder training in Yenagoa on Thursday, said health and education sectors were interconnected.

The programme was organised by the Health Emergency Initiative in collaboration with the state Ministries of Education and Health for teachers and students.

Zuokumor said, “Everything in life is connected. You cannot talk about education and going to school to learn when you are not in good health. It takes a person who is in good health to be able to succeed in other aspects of life.

“So, this particular training, I believe, is coming up at the right time. It is good for us to have this awareness. To me, I also see it as a kind of sensitisation. We need to know what is happening and know the basic things to do when emergencies occur.

“It is not everything you see that you jump into. There are some things that when you see, you just spring into action immediately. You need to know what to do before you think of moving to the next step.”

The director also decried the practice of recording victims of emergencies with mobile phones instead of assisting them.

She said, “Something is happening, somebody is dying, somebody fell, somebody is ill, something happened to somebody, or a child is bitten by a snake. The first thing we do is to bring out our phone to snap so that we now sell it out.

“That should not be our mindset, especially when it comes to health. The first thing that we should think about is rescue. How do you help?

“Of course, you may not know what to do and you will not know how to help if you don’t have the basic knowledge or skill of how to go about it.”

Zuokumor assured the organisers of the state government’s willingness to partner with them to expand the training and strengthen emergency-response capacity in schools.

Also speaking, the Deputy Director, Secondary Education Department, Ministry of Education, and Unit Head, Safe School Initiative/School-Based Management Committee, Mr Geku Stephen Seinitinkumo, said the programme had equipped participants with practical skills to respond to emergencies before the arrival of medical professionals.

Seinitinkumo said the training, which began on Tuesday and ended on Thursday, involved 40 secondary school students and 10 teachers.

He said, “We wouldn’t want people to die as we hear. It’s something that is worth doing, that Bayelsa State has to embrace and collaborate with them.

“Everybody now can go home with confidence that if an emergency happens, at least they will be able to resuscitate the person before taking the person to another professional body to administer further medical assistance.”

Seinitinkumo expressed optimism that the beneficiaries would pass the knowledge acquired to other students, neighbours and members of their communities.

He added, “Because of the excitement, the way they put in effort and the joy they showed shows that it is going to be very robust because they will not just harbour the knowledge to themselves.

“They are ready to spread it. They are ready to expand it. They are going to spread their tentacles to reach out to other students and even their neighbours at home.

“So, everybody that they come across, they will be able to pass their knowledge. We believe that this thing is going to be very wide and spread very wide in society.”

One of the participants, Mrs Leticia Iwakare of Government Science and Technical College, Okaka, described the first responder training as a rare privilege, saying it had equipped her with practical skills to handle emergencies before professional medical help arrived.

Iwakare said, “I was privileged to be part of this first responder training and medical intervention programme, and honestly, it is a rare privilege.

“The things I have learnt over these two days are things that, most times, you pay money to learn at seminars, but I got them for free.”

She said the training had taught her how to respond to situations such as fainting, convulsion and burns without resorting to inappropriate remedies.

She added, “I have now learnt the right way to handle such situations, whether it is a child, an adult or an accident casualty, before the arrival of a doctor or before taking the person to the hospital.”

Similarly, Mrs Eva Dekede of Bishop Dimiya Grammar School, Yenagoa, said the training had taught her important lifesaving techniques, including how to move an injured person without causing further harm.

Dekede said, “This training is something that is very necessary and has helped me to learn a lot. For instance, I have learnt how to carry someone when the person does not need much movement, so that you don’t end up shaking the person so much and cause more harm to the person.

“I have also learnt that when someone gets a burn, you don’t use some kind of things, like ice or other substances on the affected part. You should rinse it with cold water and help the person get to the hospital fast.”

Another participant, Matanya Lakoso of Central E.P.A. Secondary School, Opolo, described the training as educative, saying it had increased her awareness of the importance of saving lives.

Lakoso said, “The training has been very good and educative, and the trainer has created more awareness for me. The awareness I have gained from this training is how to save lives and the importance of life.

“Getting back to my school, I will call the students and inform them about the importance of life and saving lives. The essence of being a human being is living. Where there is no life, that person is dead. So, we should avoid that and do everything possible to save a life.”

The three-day programme was aimed at equipping secondary school students and teachers with basic first aid, emergency response and lifesaving skills.