As part of activities to mark World Emergency Medical Service Day, the National Ambulance Service (NAS) organised an exhibition and training visit to students of Bishop Boys’ Primary School in Accra yesterday.
This year, it was celebrated on May 21 and it gives Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and those who would like to credit them, a chance to recognise their hard work and contributions in potentially fatal situations daily.
It also gives an opportunity to understand the magnitude of how much the Emergency Medical Services perform their role.
It also provides urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilization for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. The EMS is largely divided into a “pre-hospital phase” and an “in-hospital phase.”
The personnel trained the students on how to perform basic life supports which are the techniques and processes used to revive someone suffering cardiac arrest or even choking, or any form of medical emergency. The students were later taken through the equipments used for emergencies and how they are handled in the ambulance.
Addressing the media, the Principal Advocacy and Emergency Medical Technician, Nathaniel Essoua Amoah, stated that the training for the students was to equip them on the first aids performed to revive persons who were in any form of medical emergency.
He added that the students were also introduced to the Automated External Defibrillator, which is also used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. It is a medical device that can analyze the heart’s rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm.
The Deputy Director of Public Relations, Mr. Simmons Yussif Kewura, emphasised the importance of the EMS Day, and revealed that this was the maiden edition of the EMS celebration in Ghana.
He stated that the reason why his outfit decided to choose a primary school was because, “when children are taught, they are able to take their parents through it, since they have retentive memories.”
The EMS, according to him, was there to create awareness for everyone to know the instrumental role of its personnel towards national development in Ghana. He believes that this would enable people to perform first aid on emergencies before calling the ambulance.
He added that it would be celebrated in all the regions next year to help educate as many people as possible.
