Company commits to training Nigerians on basic life support

A Medical Communications Company, Monitor Healthcare Ltd., is set to train Nigerians on Basic Life Support (BLS) skills in order to equip more people to save lives during emergencies.

The Chief Executive Officer, Dr Femi Ogunremi, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

Ogunremi said that BLS was grossly lacking and responsible sometimes for unnecessary deaths in the country.

“BLS is crucial in life-saving; as human beings, we have three minutes of grace for the brain to remain healthy if we stop breathing.

“After this period, the brain cells can be damaged permanently if there is no oxygen, which we get by breathing.

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“The idea is for us to train people to be able to identify when there is a life-threatening situation that warrants need for airways to be maintained.

“Many times, members of the public or people at the workplace do not know what to do before the health care team arrives.

“In this environment, that might take a long time but if people are BLS-trained, they can help people in trouble to be alive until help comes; it is a necessity,’’ he said.

Ogunremi said that everyone including industries, workplaces, schools, among others, should have the knowledge of BLS and be trained to deliver it when needed.

According to him, the country will benefit from it and improve the quality of health care, in terms of saving lives.

“It is like a chain; you do your part and I do mine. This is key to creating a structure in our health care system.

“Also, improving quality of care is multifaceted and this is one of the facets; knowledge of appropriate care is one aspect that is key to the quality of delivery,’’ Ogunremi said.

He urged industries and companies to key into BLS training by providing an adequate budget for it.

He also urged the management of the country’s health facilities to have standard operating procedures that flag the training up as mandatory for all their staff and possibly part of essentials for employment.

“BLS is tailored to the public and generalists. However, Advance Life Support (ALS) is crucial for the medical team to take it from basic support so that they can maintain the lives of people.

“They can do this through various advanced skills to maintain and sustain life during life-threatening events like heart attack, collapse and so on,’’ Ogunremi said.

He said that the company had collaborated with various partners to bridge the gaps in the country’s health care system via training and other relevant activities.

He said, “For BLS and ALS, we work with our partners in the United Kingdom to deliver training that is accredited by the European Resuscitation Council.’’

NAN reports that the training will begin on October 2019 for health care professionals and members of staff of some organisations that have signed to be trained.

NAN