Establishing a good first aid response and putting safety measures in place can help prevent accidents and emergencies from occurring in the workplace. Safety training makes workers more aware of the possible occupational health risks of their surroundings and helps them to carry out their duties without taking any unnecessary activities. In partnership with Rwanda Red Cross, Vivo Energy staff were offered basic first aid and CPR training aimed at creating proper understanding of a safer working environment.
Choosing to be a bystander may make an unfortunate situation downright catastrophic. In the absence of a hospital or clinic in nearby vicinity, all employees should be adequately trained to render first aid. Vivo Energy staff were trained in how to render first aid in cases of severe bleeding, injury, stroke and cessation of breathing.
Severe bleeding/ Injury first aid procedures
- Removing any clothing or debris on the wound
- Avoiding to probe the wound or clean it
- Wearing gloves
- Using sterile bandage and maintaining pressure until the bleeding stops
Cessation of breathing
- Alerting emergency medical help
- Laying the victim on their back and opening their airways
- Performing thirty chest compressions
- Performing two rescue breaths
- Repeating the whole process until proper medical assistance is provided
- In cases of heart attack or stroke, VIVO staff were given cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures to follow until the arrival of an emergency medical specialist.
Phoebe Mushimiyimana, first aid training facilitator at Rwanda Red Cross stresses that a human life is valuable and should be preserved at all costs. “Accidents will always happen despite measures of preventative procedure and care. This first aid and CPR training doesn’t just facilitate recovery, it can save a life and it is the initial assistance that the victim needs until professional medical assistance is provided,” says Phoebe.
Given the fact that ambulance stretchers can only be used by trained EMTs, Paramedics, or other trained emergency responders, VIVO staff were trained on how to properly lift a stretcher and the proper body mechanics to use to prevent further injury of the patient. They were also instructed on how to use different items in a first aid kit such as sterile dressings and bandages, scissors, tweezers, antiseptic and skin rash creams and painkillers and the importance of regularly checking medicines in the first aid kit to make sure they are within their use-by dates.
