NGO trains The Guardian workers on life- saving skills

ANON- GOVERNMENTAL organisation, Emergency Response Africa ( ERA), has trained The Guardianworkers on cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR), a first aid technique to resuscitate someone that is not breathing properly or whose heart has stopped working.

The training, which was held at the Rutam House Headquarters of the company, yesterday, aimed at building confidence and skills needed to react to an incident, injury or illness from co- workers, family members and friends.

Leader of the team, Roli Erewa, said CPR is a skill that everyone can learn as one does not need to be a health professional to do it. She said in case of cardiac arrest, heart failure or heart attack, one is expected to apply CPR on the patient to allow blood flow to other parts of the body organs. “In the first place, you have to check emergency response on the victim for instance. Tap the person on the shoulder to see if the victim can respond. When you discover that the victim has no pulse, then you start CPR by compressing the chest of the victim before calling for medical assistance. If you notice the victim has pulse, don’t apply heart compressing but call for ambulance or any other medical response. Applying CPR while the victim has pulse might cause more damage than expected,” she stated.

Erewa said that when the patient has seizure, the common preventive measures include avoidance of bright light on people with photosensitive epilepsy, psychostimulants and excessive alcohol consumption, as well as ensuring drug compliance, prompt treatment of other medical conditions like hypertension and diabetes.