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First-Aid and CPR training should be mandatory for all first responders
Dear Editor,
I recently completed training in first-aid and intermediate CPR. During the training I could not help but think about the preventable MV Barima tragedy and how often I have seen persons experiencing life threatening conditions in Guyana and persons just standing watching on. No first-aid, no CPR, no nothing other than mere observation. This should compel Guyana to examine not only what went wrong, but what basic lifesaving capabilities we expect of the people entrusted with public safety. First-aid and Intermediate CPR at a minimum, must be a requirement for certain professionals working in particularly high-risk jobs whose occupations require them to respond to emergencies.
Police officers, firefighters and members of the Guyana Defence Force should be trained and certified. So too should pilots and first officers; captains, mates and other designated crew operating passenger vessels on our rivers and seas; mining camp managers and supervisors; and persons in other occupations who, because of where they work or the responsibilities entrusted to them, may become the first responder when someone is seriously injured, unconscious, drowning or not breathing.
An ambulance, doctor or hospital may be minutes or, in Guyana’s hinterland and riverine communities, considerably longer away. Those first minutes can matter enormously. A person standing nearby with a uniform, rank or official responsibility but without the training to provide basic assistance may be of limited help when immediate intervention is required.
This is particularly important for maritime transportation. On a vessel travelling through Guyana’s rivers or coastal waters, professional medical assistance may not be immediately available. Other jurisdictions recognise this reality by requiring trained first-aid personnel aboard vessels and establishing specific emergency-response requirements. Guyana should examine whether its own standards are sufficiently rigorous, comprehensive and consistently enforced.
The requirement should also go beyond possessing a certificate obtained years earlier. CPR and first-aid skills deteriorate without practice. Certification should therefore require periodic renewal, practical simulation exercises and training appropriate to occupational risks—whether drowning and water rescue, burns, trauma, severe bleeding, cardiac arrest or remote-area emergencies.
Regards,
Rawle A. Small
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