UBTH Gives BLS Training ...Participants presented with certificates of participation
By Bernadette Idalu
Members of Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by Comrade Festus Alenkhe, today, December 18, 2022, benefitted from the emergency response (ER) training on, "Basic Life Support," (BLS), to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) on May 12, 1973, through enactment of Edict No. 12 in 1971 by the then Military Governor of Midwestern State, Late Brigadier General Samuel Ogbemudia.
The training and presentation of certificates of participation to participants/first responders and interested persons on "Basic Life Support" (BLS) was put together to speed up response interventions which could prevent a sudden cardiac arrest through the use of the, "Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation," (CPR), technique and other relevant procedures during medical emergencies.
The training being part of a lineup of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities targeting host communities in which the health facility is situate, aims to give back to society in the buildup towards the celebration of its golden jubilee by May, 12, 2023, to help with, "Advancing the Legacy of Quality Healthcare." To give bite to this pursuit, an array of medical personnel and paramedics were on ground at the Oba Ovoranmwen Park, Mission Road, Benin City, to train designated groups on basic life support techniques.
Instructors were assigned to stations which had five participants each, for ease of management. Messrs Damilare Olatunde and Eloghosa Erabor of the Paramedics Department, UBTH, in one of the station gave hands on lessons on resuscitation through checking for pulse, giving of thirty (30) chest compressions followed by two breaths through use of the pocket face mask (E-C clamp) technique on a provided dummy.
The E-C clamp technique involved, "Positioning the hand so that the little, ring, and middle fingers are spread over the mandible from the angle of the jaw forward towards the chin in the configuration of the nose symbol. The jaw is then lifted, pulling the face into the mask," and a mouth to mouth resuscitation is carried out passing air through provided vent into the mouth of patient/victim to aid the flow of air into the chest. However, in the absence of a pocket face mask, participants were encouraged to pinch the nose, use a white (light) handkerchief, spread out to cover patients mouth completely while responder puffs two breaths of air into the mouth of victim, haven first checked to see if there is a pulse by responder pressing the fore and middle fingers to the side of the middle of neck. The paramedics stated that in the absence of a pulse, there was need to do thirty quick compressions to the middle of the chest of victim, with the heels of the palm.
The Chief Medical Director, (CMD), UBTH, Prof. Darlington Obaseki said the idea of the BLS came up due to the fact that it is an aspect of life for which everyone ought to have basic knowledge and method to deploy such during medical emergencies. He noted that being the foremost hospital in the region and country, there was need to teach and educate the people on the right way to resuscitate.
This enlightenment he said, is also geared towards the actualization of the 50th anniversary of the establishment which comes up May 12, 2023, hence the management 'came up with the need to say thank you to the society and the people that have supported the hospital for the past years.'
Responding to the question on which aspects were looked at, at choosing beneficiaries for the training programme, Obaseki stated, "We looked at those who are mostly first responders in emergencies, or in a crime, in which somebody has been shot. The Police are usually one of those establishment that are first to arrive on the scene. At that time, it is not about investigating. If someone is still alive then, there is need to keep such a person alive.
"The Federal Road Safety Corp, (FRSC), are mostly there when there is a road traffic crash (RTC) on the road hence they need this training. Same goes for the Edo State Traffic Management Agency, (EDSTMA), the Vigilante Network, journalists that are usually at the forefront of events, teachers and market women who were chosen based on the fact that they are always at the scenes where emergency response is needed."
A participant at the training, Mr. Peter Uwumanrogie, of ITV, thanked and appreciated UBTH for the life support training, revealing that, if he had known how to use this basic life saving skill, he might have been in a position to resuscitate his father before he died. This training, he said, gave him a vivid flashback on how his father died.
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