10 doctors, other paramedics receive training from NEDC on basic emergency care
Mohammed Kaka Misau
In order to equipped health personnel with additional knowledge to manage patients in life-threatening conditions, the North East Development Commission (NEDC), has commenced the training of 10 selected Doctors, Nurses and other Paramedics in Bauchi state.
Our correspondent reports that the training which is going to last for five days, is geared towards imparting additional knowledge in the trainees who are Basic Emergency Care Providers at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital (ATBU-TH) in Bauchi State.
The training was organized by North East Development Commission (NEDC) in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Health for healthcare providers in the North East sub-region.
A Consultant Urologist and Chairman Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital, Dr. Haruna Usman Liman while speaking during the opening ceremony of the training yesterday, observed that Bauchi is situated at a very confluence of many major trunck roads in which accidents and emergencies are bound.
He said it was important that the training be carried as well as appropriate care instituted at the right time to save many lives.
“it is a thing joy for this hospital to be nominated to participate in this training program because it is a tertiary centre that does not have a well developed and elaborate emergency culture, definitely is a very serious problem”, he said.
Liman explained that all the stakeholders have been carefully selected to be trained, adding that the program will not stopped at them as they are expected to go back to their various units and step down the training to other staff.
“We hope in the course of time, so many people within the hospital will imbibe this emergency culture and become proficient in the art of instituting emergency care with laid down protocols for interventions to save lives”, Dr. Liman further explained.
He added that the responsibility of delivering emergency care does not only rest in the shoulders of a doctor, stressing that the person who was able to transit with the ambulance to the side of the emergency may be the best person to save live at the point of occurrence.
“By the time the patient is brought to the hospital where elaborate investigation and treatment can be instituted, other health workers can be involved”, he said.
While thanking the federal government on behalf of the hospital, Dr. Liman also commended the North East Development Commission for the initiative.
He expressed hope that the gesture will continue on a sustainable basis to train and retrain staff, build capacity and give them the opportunity to cascade the training to other facilities within the neighborhood of Bauchi in order to develop the art of cutting edge of emergency care in line with global best practice.
On his part, a Facilitator and Mater Trainer at the exercise, Dr Ibrahim Sahabo said that the basic emergency care was designed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with ICRC and International Federation of Emergency Medicine, the body that provides the certification for all the participants at the training.
Sahabo explained that the training is aim at equipping the frontline health workers with the requisite skills to be able to rapidly assess and manage patients in life threatening conditions.
According to him, before now there was no any training that is particularly targeted at emergency care but the initiative was introduced to Nigeria in 2021.
Also speaking, the Representative of the State Coordinator of North East Development Commission (NEDC) in Bauchi State, Abdulkadir Ibrahim Baba, enjoined the trainees to utilize the opportunity to acquire the requisite skills and step down the knowledge to achieve the desire objectives.
He pointed out that the training is going on across the six states of Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Adamawa, Gombe and Bauchi.
