First Aid should be everybody’s business

3 years ago

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Staff at the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation and St Elizabeth Infirmary have benefited from basic first-aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training to better prepare them for emergencies.

The two-day session, which got underway on Thursday at the Black River Primary and Infant School, was conducted by the Jamaica Red Cross.

Staff were taught methodologies in CPR as well as how to handle choking and unconsciousness, breathing problems and artificial respiration, poisoning and more.

Friday’s session covered the technical aspects of bleeding and shock, wound dressing, bandaging, burns, injuries to the body and other first-aid emergencies.

Parish Coordinator for Disaster Preparedness at the St. Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, Ornella Lewis, said that staff must be equipped to respond when emergencies arise.

“We try to ensure we have a safe workspace and also… to assist customers. We have seen a situation where first aid was required and one of our trained staff was able to administer first aid. So I think it is critical, for the day-to-day activities in an organisation,”

she noted.

First Aid Instructor of the St Elizabeth arm of the Jamaica Red Cross, Maceo Sibbles, said that first aid


“should be everybody’s business”

as a medical professional is not always on hand in the event of emergencies.

“First aid can be learned and taught to anybody. Every individual can save a life and with the right tools, it gives you a better opportunity,”

he noted.