PESHAWAR: The health department has planned to start courses at schools to alleviate skills of students to resuscitate critically-injured and ill people in case of emergencies and reduce mortality rate from the trauma.

“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health policy seeks to develop skills of people in cardiopulmonary support to victims at the site of the occurrence of incidents. We want people to perform lifesaving procedures. We can avoid complications through early and better basic life support to the needy people,” Dr Hamid Shehzad, the director of emergency department at medical teaching institution Lady Reading Hospital, told participants of a two-day course here on Sunday.

He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Resuscitation Council, consisting of senior physicians, was being set up to upgrade services regarding first aid.

Students to get training to resuscitate critically-injured and ill people in case of emergency

Dr Hamid said that last month, American Heart Association (AHA) approved LRH, the first health institution of the province, for conducting basic life support, advance life support and other courses for health professionals to improve care of critically-ill and injured persons.

He said that serious patients required immediate chest compression by anyone present around instead of waiting for the ambulance to take them to the hospitals. He added that it had been medically proven that resuscitation within 10 minutes led to survival of the people in critical situations.

Dr Hamid, who is also a member of the provincial health policy advisory board, said that putting in place effective emergency healthcare at the district and tertiary hospitals through advance trainings and imparting skills to students and general population was at the centre stage of the government’s plan.

He said that LRH would be a training hub and would act as an umbrella to strengthen trauma care along with creating awareness among people as to how seriously-wounded and sick people could be stabilised before transportation of the victims to hospitals.

“BLS is a skill through which common people can be trained about the rate and depth during chest compression of the patients,” said Dr Hamid.

He said that in developed countries, such courses had become part of the syllabus of schools from 5th grade because those were the skills, which could be learnt by anyone regardless of educational background.

According to plan, he said, government departments would also be visited for on-hands training in spot management of people with cardiopulmonary arrest.

The early the better, is the best management of patients, he said.

“A memorandum of understanding has been signed with University of Karachi where our trainers have attended courses and they are now transferring the same to the local medics, nurses and paramedics,” said Dr Hamid.

He said that in the past, the doctors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would go to other cities for a week to attend the AHA courses. “Now the medics will get the same here. We have designed courses of international standards,” he added.

Dr Hamid said that prior to LRH, the courses were also conducted at limited level at the regional offices of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan and doctors waited for long to be enlisted for which trainers would come from outside.

“We have planned to improve skills of 2,000 persons in resuscitation,” he said.

Dr Irfan, Dr Sidra from Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi, Dr Shah Hussain, Dr Jamal Bahadar, Dr Zahid, and Dr Habib were among the trainers, who spoke about the techniques of lifesaving procedures at the emergency departments of the hospitals.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2019